Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Boosts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,366 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $354,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 938 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $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 valued at $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Barclays upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen reduced 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Argus lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $902.13.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $885.73 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $903.46. The company has a market cap of $131.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $857.98 and a 200 day moving average of $814.37. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

BlackRock 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.