Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires Shares of 1,991 BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise has acquired a new stake in BlackRock, purchasing 1,991 shares valued at approximately $1.88 million during the first quarter.
• Analysts have varied ratings on BlackRock, with Barclays raising its price target to $1,220.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for the stock.
• BlackRock recently reported an EPS of $12.05 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,991 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,885,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 76.5% in the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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 report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $14.72 on Friday, reaching $1,091.29. 672,794 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 646,030. The firm's 50 day moving average is $1,040.67 and its 200-day moving average is $981.66. The firm has a market cap of $169.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,130.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.36 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 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.