BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $31,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $2,018,000. Allianz SE increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,435,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $40,868,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,307,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,102.93 on Thursday. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,171.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,113.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,004.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,154.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.