630 Shares in BlackRock $BLK Acquired by Cadent Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Cadent Capital Advisors LLC acquired 630 shares of BlackRock, valued at approximately $661,000, during the second quarter.
• Significant institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Royal Bank of Canada, have made notable increases in their stakes in BlackRock, with GAMMA increasing by 104,598.9%.
• BlackRock reported quarterly earnings of $12.05 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with a 1.8% yield.

Cadent Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 630 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $661,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,243,059,000 after acquiring an additional 555,098 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after acquiring an additional 387,466 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 32.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 279,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unisphere Establishment grew its holdings in BlackRock by 29.2% during the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 839,500 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $794,570,000 after purchasing an additional 189,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE BLK opened at $1,146.33 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,171.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $1,123.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,018.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

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.

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