Legal & General Group Plc Increases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,197,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,311 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $942,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in BlackRock by 57.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,181,346,000 after acquiring an additional 749,654 shares in the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 24,171.5% during the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $346,831,000 after acquiring an additional 414,300 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after acquiring an additional 292,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1,829.7% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 297,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $241,904,000 after purchasing an additional 282,543 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $945.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $952.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $877.04 and a 200-day moving average of $820.99. The company has a market cap of $140.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $902.13.

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.