KBC Group NV Has $13.29 Million Stake in BlackRock $BLK

KBC Group NV reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,662 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 536 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,243,059,000 after acquiring an additional 555,098 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,071,339,000 after purchasing an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $231,000. Finally, Unisphere Establishment lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 839,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $794,570,000 after buying an additional 189,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,312.00 to $1,305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,302.53.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,057.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $163.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1,127.37 and its 200 day moving average is $1,074.02. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $11.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

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.