AIA Group Ltd Sells 700 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd reduced its stake in BlackRock by 19.8%, resulting in 2,834 shares valued at approximately $2.68 million.
• Insiders have sold a significant amount of stock recently, with Director J. Richard Kushel and Director Rachel Lord selling a combined total of over $39 million in shares.
• BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.8%, with 80.69% of the stock currently held by institutional investors.

AIA Group Ltd cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 19.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,834 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,152,907,000 after acquiring an additional 329,244 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,591,716 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,631,684,000 after acquiring an additional 272,176 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last three months. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $24.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,135.88. 580,186 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 520,802. The company has a market cap of $175.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $1,071.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $989.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,171.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.36 earnings per share. BlackRock's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.