Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Has $1.01 Million Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 42.1%, purchasing an additional 316 shares, bringing their total to 1,067 shares valued at approximately $1,010,000.
• BlackRock recently declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share to be paid on September 23rd, representing a 1.8% dividend yield.
• Despite strong earnings results, BlackRock's stock has recently seen a 0.7% decline, with a current price of around $1,127.80.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 42.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,067 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 104,598.9% in 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 during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 401.5% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 876,836 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,152,907,000 after purchasing an additional 329,244 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 32.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,071,339,000 after purchasing an additional 279,336 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 subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their target price on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price objective 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock 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 directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 2.1%

BLK stock traded up $23.1220 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1,147.8720. The stock had a trading volume of 433,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,641. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,086.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $992.76. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $177.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,171.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The company's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given 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 (DPR) is presently 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.