BlackRock $BLK Shares Acquired by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in BlackRock by 88.0% during the first quarter, acquiring 37,662 additional shares to own a total of approximately 80,441 shares valued at $76.15 million.
• BlackRock's latest quarterly earnings surpassed analysts' expectations, reporting $12.05 EPS against a consensus estimate of $10.41, with revenue reaching $5.42 billion.
• The company declared a $5.21 quarterly dividend for stockholders of record on September 5th, reflecting an annual dividend yield of 1.9%.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 88.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,441 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 37,662 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp owned approximately 0.05% of BlackRock worth $76,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in 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 during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% during the fourth 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 worth $1,122,743,000 after buying an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,243,059,000 after buying an additional 555,098 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after buying an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,071,339,000 after buying an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,154.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,124.34 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $1,115.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,007.38. The company has a market capitalization of $174.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,171.89. 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 (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $10.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.