BlackRock $BLK Shares Acquired by Cypress Capital Group

Cypress Capital Group raised its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,795 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up 1.0% of Cypress Capital Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $2,018,000. Allianz SE raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,435,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 17.2% during the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, 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 transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,132.12 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,134.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,035.56. 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 company has a market cap 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. 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 50.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,258.56.

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.