Legal & General Group Plc Boosts Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 920,578 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,457 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.59% of BlackRock worth $985,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth $700,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in BlackRock by 6,347.9% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 42,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,239,000 after buying an additional 41,579 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion boosted its stake in BlackRock by 51.5% during the third quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 22,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,299,000 after buying an additional 7,773 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 251,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $269,572,000 after buying an additional 24,196 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 8.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 360,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $420,873,000 after buying an additional 29,449 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,073.03 on Monday. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $917.39 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a market cap of $166.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,018.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,053.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.64 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. CICC Research lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,220.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,269.06.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total value of $417,690.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,335 shares in the company, valued at $3,618,174.85. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 45,024 shares of company stock worth $47,431,063 over the last three months. 1.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About BlackRock

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.