Capital Research Global Investors Reduces Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Capital Research Global Investors decreased its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLKFree Report) by 0.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,826,918 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 29,460 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises about 0.8% of Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,461,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,680,334,000 after purchasing an additional 227,192 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,281,641,000 after acquiring an additional 34,049 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,104,122,000 after acquiring an additional 842,901 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,841,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,146,663,000 after purchasing an additional 10,591 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.4%

BLK stock opened at $959.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $149.21 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,086.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,097.83.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLKGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $11.93 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. This represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total value of $2,339,962.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,331.41. The trade was a 24.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,235.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Freedom Capital raised shares of BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,296.00 to $1,380.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,308.89.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on BLK

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

About BlackRock

(Free Report)

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

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