Nordea Investment Management AB Boosts Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,804 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in BlackRock by 73.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,243,059,000 after buying an additional 555,098 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,027,419,000 after buying an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $1,071,339,000 after acquiring an additional 279,336 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $231,000. Finally, Unisphere Establishment lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 839,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $794,570,000 after purchasing an additional 189,500 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,161.63 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,140.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,043.90. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.45.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,300.81.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.