Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Grows Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,108 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after purchasing an additional 292,017 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,630,127,000 after buying an additional 435,358 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in BlackRock by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after buying an additional 1,279,952 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in BlackRock by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,006,490,000 after buying an additional 58,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,015,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,636,052,000 after acquiring an additional 47,128 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Argus upped their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $902.13.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.3 %

BlackRock stock opened at $934.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $942.73. The stock has a market cap of $138.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $866.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $817.30.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.84%.

BlackRock 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.