Junto Capital Management LP Buys 65,013 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Junto Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLKFree Report) by 70.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,013 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises about 3.7% of Junto Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Junto Capital Management LP owned about 0.10% of BlackRock worth $182,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth about $259,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 18.3% in the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 594 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in BlackRock by 4.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,438 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $55,020,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $922.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,075.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,092.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLKGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $11.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Evercore cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,235.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Bank of America boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,308.89.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on BlackRock

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,087.29, for a total value of $58,920,245.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 51,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,971,514.62. This represents a 51.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total transaction of $2,339,962.73. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,543 shares in the company, valued at $7,026,331.41. The trade was a 24.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 111,319 shares of company stock worth $123,999,249. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

BlackRock Profile

(Free Report)

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

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