BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in BlackRock by 13.2% in Q1, holding about 932,899 shares valued at approximately $882.97 million.
• BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with an ex-dividend date of September 5th, representing an annual yield of 1.9%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for BlackRock, with recent price target upgrades from multiple brokerages, indicating positive investor sentiment.

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 932,899 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 108,473 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.60% of BlackRock worth $882,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 76.5% in the first 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 period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $34,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,124.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.04. The company has a market capitalization of $174.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,131.93. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $1,054.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $985.34.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. 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 1.9%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

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.

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