Amundi Decreases Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Amundi decreased its stake in BlackRock by 8.3%, selling 44,516 shares and holding 491,730 shares worth approximately $436 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Royal Bank of Canada, have increased their holdings in BlackRock, reflecting a strong interest in the asset manager's stock.
• BlackRock recently announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, which will be paid on September 23rd, representing a yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 50.39%.

Amundi lessened its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 491,730 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 44,516 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 0.32% of BlackRock worth $436,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after acquiring an additional 387,466 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,243,059,000 after acquiring an additional 555,098 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 32.8% in 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 period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 401.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Argus restated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,098.69 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $1,108.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,000.33. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,171.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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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