BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in BlackRock by 5.3% in Q2, now holding 27,924 shares valued at approximately $29.3 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have raised their positions in BlackRock, with GAMMA Investing LLC's stake increasing by a staggering 104,598.9% in the first quarter.
• BlackRock's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $12.05, surpassing analyst expectations, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, yielding 1.8%.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,924 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in BlackRock were worth $29,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Garde Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $1,135.49. The stock had a trading volume of 127,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 726,609. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.45, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,171.89. The stock's 50 day moving average is $1,120.31 and its 200 day moving average is $1,014.87. 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 (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,154.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade 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 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock 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.