Intech Investment Management LLC Acquires 1,406 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 21.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,028 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth $33,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $902.13.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $928.79 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $942.73. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $868.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $817.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.