8,348 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Purchased by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 8,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $6,572,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its stake in BlackRock by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after buying an additional 1,279,952 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in BlackRock by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,181,346,000 after acquiring an additional 749,654 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 24,171.5% during the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $346,831,000 after purchasing an additional 414,300 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after purchasing an additional 292,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in BlackRock by 1,829.7% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 297,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $241,904,000 after purchasing an additional 282,543 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $902.13.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $895.18 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $903.46. The stock has a market cap of $133.02 billion, a PE ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $860.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $815.10.

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. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.28 EPS. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio 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.