American Century Companies Inc. Sells 1,631 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 297,602 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,631 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.19% of BlackRock worth $312,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 200.0% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 107.1% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,312.00 to $1,305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,302.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,013.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,117.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,078.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

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.