BlackRock $BLK Shares Acquired by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,597 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,159 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $37,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $216,000. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $27,304,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $3,263,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,114.15 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,116.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,008.76. The stock has a market cap of $172.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,171.89. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,154.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company’s 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 directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last three months. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.