QRG Capital Management Inc. Cuts Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,033 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 803 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,712,493,000 after acquiring an additional 68,405 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,072,787,000 after acquiring an additional 190,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9%

BlackRock stock traded up $8.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $977.88. The stock had a trading volume of 662,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 690,856. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $151.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $942.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $971.07. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The firm's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on BLK shares. Argus lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,096.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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.