AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Purchases New Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in BlackRock, purchasing 5,443 shares valued at approximately $5,334,000 in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have recently increased their stakes in BlackRock, with 80.69% of the stock owned by institutional investors overall.
• BlackRock reported earnings of $12.05 per share for its last quarterly results, exceeding expectations and demonstrating a 12.9% revenue increase year-over-year.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,443 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $5,334,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of 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. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,841 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,561,000 after buying an additional 4,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,343 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $14,703,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% 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 ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve research 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,134.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $175.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,114.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,005.86. 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 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,171.89.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

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.

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