BlackRock $BLK Shares Acquired by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,415 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Allianz SE lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 17.2% during the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,163.72 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,132.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,032.16. The firm has a market cap of $180.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.14, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,184.13. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,362.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,254.47.

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.