Banco Santander S.A. Has $8.65 Million Holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 4.8% during Q1, now owning 9,135 shares valued at approximately $8.65 million.
• Insiders at BlackRock have sold significant shares, with CEO Laurence Fink selling 12,054 shares valued at around $13.57 million, reducing his ownership by 4.57%.
• BlackRock reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $12.05 surpassing estimates and revenue increasing 12.9% year-over-year.

Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,135 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 416 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 257 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Detalus Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% during the first quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 786 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% during the first quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 579 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,091.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,040.67 and a 200-day moving average of $981.44. The company has a market cap of $169.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.42. 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 has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,130.66.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays upped their target price on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Argus restated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

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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