Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Has $4.26 Million Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. cut its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,114 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 26 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,812,920,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted 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 purchasing an additional 749,654 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 77,524.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 641,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,211,390,000 after purchasing an additional 641,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $346,831,000 after purchasing an additional 414,300 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.2 %

BLK stock traded up $1.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $830.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,035,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 606,654. The company has a market cap of $123.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $792.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $793.85. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $851.88.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.22 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,978 shares of company stock worth $54,692,570 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BLK. TD Cowen cut their price target on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Argus lifted their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $872.29.

BlackRock 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.