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

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,096 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $904.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The company has a market cap of $134.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $862.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $815.73. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $908.88.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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 increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $902.13.

BlackRock Company 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.