Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Grows Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.6%, acquiring an additional 1,984 shares to total 128,017 shares valued at approximately $121 million.
• BlackRock reported a Q2 earnings per share (EPS) of $12.05, surpassing the consensus estimate of $10.41, with year-over-year revenue growth of 12.9%.
• A quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share has been announced, representing a 1.8% yield, with an ex-dividend date set for September 5.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,017 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.08% of BlackRock worth $121,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $2,018,000. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $40,868,000. Allianz SE increased its position in BlackRock by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $15,307,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $1.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $1,130.50. 475,174 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 489,098. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,171.89. The firm has a market cap of $175.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $1,095.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $995.51.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio 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.