Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,096 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,366 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $354,000. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,120,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,854,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 142,111 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $115,365,000 after purchasing an additional 33,796 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $904.83 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $862.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $815.73. The stock has a market cap of $134.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $908.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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 business had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $902.13.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.