BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Acquired by Ledyard National Bank

Ledyard National Bank increased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Archer Investment Corp purchased a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 48.6% in the first quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 52 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 15,385 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.03, for a total value of $10,031,481.55. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 435,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,802,577.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on BlackRock from $921.00 to $868.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on BlackRock from $781.00 to $754.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $814.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $820.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $764.75.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $4.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $712.84. The company had a trading volume of 92,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 634,957. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $781.77. The company has a market cap of $106.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.72 and a quick ratio of 3.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $650.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $675.27.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 13th. The asset manager reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.34 by $2.57. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 30.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.55 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 36.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.00 per share. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.10%.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.