Lafayette Investments Inc. Takes $207,000 Position in BlackRock $BLK

Lafayette Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 197 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,206,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,142,340,000 after purchasing an additional 111,694 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after purchasing an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 932,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $882,970,000 after purchasing an additional 108,473 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,160.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $179.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,141.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,046.27. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The business’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $11.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 53.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,320.00 target price on BlackRock and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,300.81.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 insiders.

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.