Allianz SE Buys 277 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Allianz SE increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.6%, purchasing an additional 277 shares, bringing its total holdings to 11,025 shares valued at approximately $10.4 million.
• Recent insider trading showed that directors, including Fabrizio Freda and Rachel Lord, sold significant portions of their BlackRock shares, reflecting notable changes in their investment positions.
• BlackRock's latest earnings report demonstrated strong performance, with an EPS of $12.05, surpassing analysts' expectations, and a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.9%.

Allianz SE lifted its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,025 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Allianz SE's holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock 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 sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,091.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,130.66. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $1,040.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $981.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.34 and a quick ratio of 4.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.36 EPS. Analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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