Nordea Investment Management AB Boosts Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in BlackRock by 6.5%, owning 12,804 shares valued at $13.37 million after acquiring an additional 787 shares in Q2.
• BlackRock reported $11.55 EPS for its latest quarter, missing expectations by $0.23, although quarterly revenue increased 25.2% year-over-year to $6.51 billion.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for BlackRock, with Bank of America setting a new target of $1,456, reflecting strong investor sentiment.

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,804 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 787 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB's holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,161.63 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.45. The stock's 50 day moving average is $1,140.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,043.90. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $11.46 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is 53.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,300.81.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at $296,002,472.28. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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