BlackRock $BLK Shares Acquired by Tandem Investment Partners LLC

Tandem Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 15.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 717 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the quarter. Tandem Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,243,059,000 after acquiring an additional 555,098 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,206,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,142,340,000 after acquiring an additional 111,694 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $1,071,339,000 after acquiring an additional 279,336 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 932,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $882,970,000 after acquiring an additional 108,473 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total transaction of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,213.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,183.50. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,129.67 and a 200-day moving average of $1,028.18. The firm has a market cap of $179.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

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.