Venture Visionary Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

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Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,839 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 494 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in BlackRock by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 172,015 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $176,418,000 after buying an additional 18,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 660,054 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $683,670,000 after purchasing an additional 11,736 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $23.1220 during trading on Friday, reaching $1,147.8720. The stock had a trading volume of 433,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,641. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,082.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $991.86. The stock has a market cap of $177.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.06, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,171.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is 50.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

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.