Natixis Advisors LLC Has $102.31 Million Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 6.8% during Q1, owning 108,093 shares valued at approximately $102.3 million.
• Insider trading activity saw Director Rachel Lord selling 18,036 shares for over $20.3 million, representing a 48.43% decrease in her ownership.
• BlackRock reported a quarterly earnings per share of $12.05, exceeding estimates and demonstrating a 12.9% year-over-year revenue increase.

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,093 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 6,867 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of BlackRock worth $102,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,450,475,000 after acquiring an additional 26,485 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,152,907,000 after acquiring an additional 329,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,591,716 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,631,684,000 after buying an additional 272,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK traded up $14.40 on Monday, reaching $1,106.20. The stock had a trading volume of 184,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 780,232. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.34 and a quick ratio of 4.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,040.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $981.35. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,130.66. The company has a market cap of $171.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 29.68%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Barclays raised their target price on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

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.