LBP AM SA acquired a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,955 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $3,743,000.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,712,493,000 after buying an additional 68,405 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,072,787,000 after purchasing an additional 190,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,450,475,000 after acquiring an additional 26,485 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $1,164.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,132.29.
View Our Latest Research Report on BlackRock
Insider Transactions at BlackRock
In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.
BlackRock Stock Up 0.9%
BlackRock stock traded up $9.49 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $1,111.13. The stock had a trading volume of 659,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 693,656. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $996.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $970.45. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,111.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.
BlackRock Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.
BlackRock Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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