BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 179.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,994 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,051,846,000 after buying an additional 221,123 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in BlackRock by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,841,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,146,663,000 after buying an additional 10,591 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its holdings in BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares during the period. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,012,487,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 920,578 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $985,331,000 after purchasing an additional 7,457 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,073.03 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $917.39 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1,021.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,053.97.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,269.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.