Aberdeen Group plc Buys 53,495 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in BlackRock by 99.7% in the first quarter, owning 107,170 shares valued at approximately $99.67 million, according to their SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors also made new acquisitions or increased their positions in BlackRock, leading to a combined institutional ownership of 80.69% of the company.
• BlackRock reported earnings of $12.05 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates, while the company announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share.

Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 99.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,170 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 53,495 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.07% of BlackRock worth $99,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $742,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 786 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $806,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Capital Square LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 248 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA boosted its position in BlackRock by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 1,112 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,140,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of BLK stock traded up $0.5610 on Wednesday, reaching $1,129.0310. The company had a trading volume of 573,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 499,881. The stock has a market cap of $174.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,079.75 and a 200-day moving average of $991.10. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,171.89.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's payout ratio is 50.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Bank of America lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

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.