Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Buys 500 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,373 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $23,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in BlackRock by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 421 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 121.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 92,248 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $72,629,000 after purchasing an additional 50,523 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 131,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $103,355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of BLK opened at $928.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $138.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $868.55 and a 200 day moving average of $817.96. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week 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.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price target for the company. Argus boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $902.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.