BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in BlackRock by 6.1% during the first quarter, owning 423,020 shares valued at approximately $400.38 million.
• BlackRock recently announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21, which provides an annualized yield of 1.8% and is scheduled for payment on September 23rd.
• The company reported earnings of $12.05 per share for its last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations and reflecting a revenue increase of 12.9% compared to the previous year.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 423,020 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 24,230 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.27% of BlackRock worth $400,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $742,000. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 786 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 248 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 146,055 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $149,722,000 after buying an additional 27,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock traded up $2.7480 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,131.2180. The stock had a trading volume of 218,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 759,370. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's 50 day moving average is $1,077.04 and its 200 day moving average is $990.15. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,171.89. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.