Vident Advisory LLC Has $2.81 Million Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 60.3%, owning a total of 2,972 shares valued at approximately $2.8 million after purchasing 1,118 additional shares.
• Several institutional investors have also raised their holdings in BlackRock, with a reported 80.69% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• BlackRock is projected to post an earnings per share (EPS) of 47.41 for the current fiscal year, with the stock receiving a Moderate Buy rating from analysts.

Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 60.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,972 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,563,000. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,152,907,000 after buying an additional 329,244 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,154.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of BLK stock traded down $4.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $1,099.21. The company had a trading volume of 484,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 738,507. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,109.96 and a 200 day moving average of $1,001.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The firm has a market cap of $170.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.45. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

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.