Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 8,670 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in BlackRock by 11.5%, holding approximately $79.65 million worth of the company's shares as of the latest SEC filing.
• BlackRock reported a quarterly EPS of $12.05, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue up by 12.9% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, representing a 1.8% yield, with the ex-dividend date set for September 5th.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,149 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 8,670 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.05% of BlackRock worth $79,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after acquiring an additional 387,466 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 93,844 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% during 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 buying an additional 329,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 20.6% during 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 buying an additional 272,176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK traded down $24.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $1,135.88. 580,186 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 520,802. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,171.89. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $1,071.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $989.77.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Argus reissued a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.