BlackRock $BLK Shares Acquired by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in BlackRock by 4.3%, acquiring an additional 20,826 shares to hold a total of 510,826 shares valued at approximately $483.5 million.
• BlackRock's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $12.05 earnings per share and a revenue of $5.42 billion, marking a 12.9% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 50.39%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 510,826 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 20,826 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.33% of BlackRock worth $483,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE BLK traded up $3.45 on Tuesday, reaching $1,140.55. The stock had a trading volume of 580,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,375. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,171.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,089.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $993.53.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 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.