BlackRock $BLK is London Co. of Virginia’s 6th Largest Position

London Co. of Virginia lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 443,231 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10,049 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for about 2.6% of London Co. of Virginia’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. London Co. of Virginia owned approximately 0.29% of BlackRock worth $465,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,680,334,000 after acquiring an additional 227,192 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,281,641,000 after purchasing an additional 34,049 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,104,122,000 after purchasing an additional 842,901 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 105,267.4% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,789,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,280 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,478,346.42. The trade was a 16.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,313.65.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,088.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,092.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,087.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The company has a market capitalization of $168.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $11.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.59%.

About BlackRock

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.