OFI Invest Asset Management Grows Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

OFI Invest Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,531 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $67,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth about $2,018,000. Allianz SE grew its position in BlackRock by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,221.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,252.00 to $1,301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,258.56.

BlackRock Trading Down 3.0%

BLK stock opened at $1,132.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,134.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,035.09. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,184.13. The company has a market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.