Candriam S.C.A. Buys 8,337 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 68.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,567 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,337 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $21,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its position in BlackRock by 7.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 28,360 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,757,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,281,641,000 after acquiring an additional 34,049 shares in the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its stake in BlackRock by 10.7% in the second quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 4,388 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,604,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 331,546 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $347,874,000 after acquiring an additional 7,115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price target on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective 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. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,303.41.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,068.57 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,128.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,073.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.