BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 226 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• British Columbia Investment Management Corp decreased its holdings in BlackRock by 0.8%, totaling 28,139 shares worth approximately $26.63 million after selling 226 shares in the first quarter.
• Despite the sell-off by some investors, other institutional investors like GAMMA Investing LLC and UBS AM significantly increased their positions in BlackRock, highlighting differing investor sentiment.
• BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, set to be paid on September 23rd, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.8%.

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,139 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 226 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in BlackRock were worth $26,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the first 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. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $3.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,140.55. 580,218 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 484,293. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,092.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $994.55. The firm has a market cap of $176.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,171.89. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% 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 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BLK. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Argus restated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

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.