Prudential PLC Increases Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Prudential PLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 23,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares during the period. Allianz SE boosted its position in BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Opus Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $1,420,000. Ally Financial Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $1,893,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,641,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price target on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,302.53.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.1%

BLK stock opened at $1,013.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $157.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,117.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,078.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $11.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 53.59%.

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.