BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in BlackRock by 7.4% in the second quarter, bringing its total shares to 7,415 valued at $7.78 million.
• BlackRock's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $12.05 EPS against an estimate of $10.41, with revenues of $5.42 billion.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for BlackRock, with Goldman Sachs increasing its target from $1,163 to $1,312 while maintaining a "buy" rating.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,415 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,163.72 on Thursday. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,184.13. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $1,132.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,032.16. The firm has a market cap of $180.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.45.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were 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 was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,252.00 to $1,301.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,254.47.

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.

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