Quantitative Investment Management LLC Has $1.87 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Quantitative Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in BlackRock by 12.2% during the first quarter, owning 1,973 shares worth approximately $1.87 million after selling 275 shares.
• BlackRock reported impressive quarterly earnings with $12.05 earnings per share, surpassing estimates, and its revenue increased 12.9% year-over-year to $5.42 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21, with an annualized yield of 1.8%, and will be paid to investors of record on September 5th.

Quantitative Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 12.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,973 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 275 shares during the quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after buying an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,152,907,000 after purchasing an additional 329,244 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,591,716 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,631,684,000 after purchasing an additional 272,176 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after purchasing an additional 279,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $2.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,128.45. 191,626 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,459. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,171.89. The company has a market capitalization of $174.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.42. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $1,098.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $996.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% 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 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

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.