BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 291,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $229,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in BlackRock by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 311 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $902.13.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $885.54 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $856.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $813.81. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $903.46. The company has a market capitalization of $131.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

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.