LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. decreased its holdings in BlackRock by 4.1% in the second quarter, now owning approximately 18,792 shares valued at about $19.7 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for BlackRock, with Barclays increasing its target from $990 to $1,220, while the average target across analysts is now $1,213.67.
• BlackRock recently announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 50.39%.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,792 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 795 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises about 1.7% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $19,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,213.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,183.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $1,129.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,027.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

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.

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