7,531 Shares in BlackRock $BLK Acquired by Criteria Caixa S.A.U.

Criteria Caixa S.A.U. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,531 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $7,902,000. BlackRock comprises approximately 0.9% of Criteria Caixa S.A.U.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth $2,018,000. Allianz SE grew 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 worth $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% in the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,132.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,134.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,035.09. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,184.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Argus restated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,221.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,258.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is currently 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.