LGT Group Foundation Reduces Stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

LGT Group Foundation lowered its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 15.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,079 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,178 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $37,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,018,000. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,868,000. Allianz SE lifted its position in BlackRock by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,435,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,307,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total transaction of $16,641,167.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,128.46 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,133.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.42. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $1,057.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $985.88.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

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.