Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Grows Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its ownership in BlackRock by 44.8%, acquiring an additional 1,332 shares during the second quarter, bringing their total to 4,308 shares valued at approximately $4.52 million.
• Several other institutional investors have also boosted their stakes in BlackRock, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 80.69% of the company's stock.
• In the recent quarter, BlackRock's net income rose significantly, with a reported $12.05 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations, and a revenue increase of 12.9% year-over-year.

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 44.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,308 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,332 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 200.0% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 76.5% in the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $3.31 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,139.52. The stock had a trading volume of 85,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 726,349. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $1,120.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,014.87. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,171.89. The company has a market capitalization of $176.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.57, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were 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 directly owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, 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 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.