EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. Increases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. boosted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. XML Financial LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% during the second quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 6.1% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.3% during the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $822,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in BlackRock by 4.4% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 311 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 17.1% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus raised their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $883.13.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK traded down $9.72 on Friday, hitting $866.92. 748,945 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 587,817. The company has a 50 day moving average of $848.57 and a 200-day moving average of $811.77. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $903.46.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Company insiders own 0.90% 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.