Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 19,846 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 60.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,830 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,846 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $55,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 760 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% during the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 340 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 9.6% during the second quarter. CNB Bank now owns 103 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 14.3% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 72 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp increased its position in BlackRock by 3.9% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 266 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.1%

BLK opened at $1,081.66 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1,130.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,069.28. The firm has a market cap of $167.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.46 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,303.41.

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.