Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 37,759 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in BlackRock by 25.9%, owning approximately 0.12% of the asset manager, valued at around $173.98 million.
• BlackRock reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $12.05 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a 12.9% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21, reflecting an annual yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 50.39%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 25.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,814 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 37,759 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.12% of BlackRock worth $173,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after buying an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the 1st 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. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% in the 4th 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,071,339,000 after acquiring an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BLK. Barclays increased 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.4%

BLK traded down $16.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $1,098.69. 261,089 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 741,482. 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 one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,171.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.45. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1,106.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $999.65.

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 firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 50.39%.

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.