Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 2,319 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,542 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,319 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $41,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after buying an additional 292,017 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in BlackRock by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,630,127,000 after acquiring an additional 435,358 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in BlackRock by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,006,490,000 after purchasing an additional 58,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $1,812,920,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Argus boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $883.47.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.9 %

BLK opened at $877.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $850.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $812.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $903.46. The stock has a market cap of $130.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Company 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.