BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Key Points

• Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced its stake in BlackRock by 45.5%, selling 278 shares and holding a total of 333 shares worth approximately $349,000.
• Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock stock for over $20 million, resulting in a 48.43% decrease in her ownership.
• BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with a dividend payout ratio of 50.39%, highlighting its ongoing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 333 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 278 shares during the quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft's holdings in BlackRock were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 73.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 10.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,206,935 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,142,340,000 after purchasing an additional 111,694 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 32.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,071,339,000 after purchasing an additional 279,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the 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 value 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 represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,142.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $176.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,119.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,012.87. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,171.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The company's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BLK. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,154.07.

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.

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