BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Stake Lessened by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Alberta Investment Management Corp cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 42.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,535 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,370 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 215,556 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $204,021,000 after acquiring an additional 2,613 shares in the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 11.8% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 693 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brentview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% in the first quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC now owns 3,772 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,571,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.3%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,091.29 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,040.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $981.66. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,130.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction 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 approximately $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.