Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 227,192 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 227,192 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.09% of BlackRock worth $14,680,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.2% in the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 760 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 340 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank grew its position in BlackRock by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 103 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in BlackRock by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 72 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in BlackRock by 3.9% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 266 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 3.2%

BLK stock opened at $1,024.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,125.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,076.97. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $11.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,302.53.

BlackRock Company 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.