AlphaQuest LLC Purchases 306 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC has significantly increased its stake in BlackRock by 1,330.4%, owning 329 shares valued at $311,000 as of the end of the last quarter.
• BlackRock's latest earnings exceeded forecasts with an EPS of $12.05 and revenue of $5.42 billion, marking a 12.9% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with a yield of 1.8%, scheduled for distribution on September 23rd.

AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 1,330.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 329 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,122,743,000 after purchasing an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,152,907,000 after purchasing an additional 329,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after purchasing an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Argus reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE BLK traded down $2.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,128.45. 356,048 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 472,063. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,101.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $997.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,171.89. The firm has a market cap of $174.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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.