Park National Corp OH Increases Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Park National Corp OH boosted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,942 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises 1.2% of Park National Corp OH’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $29,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 334 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 450 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Spreng Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 404 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $781.76. 152,182 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 605,078. The company has a market cap of $116.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.34. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $845.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $775.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $790.91.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price target (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.42.

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.