Machina Capital S.A.S. Makes New $311,000 Investment in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired 329 shares of BlackRock valued at approximately $311,000 during the first quarter.
• Notable institutional investors like GAMMA Investing LLC and UBS AM significantly increased their stakes in BlackRock, indicating strong institutional interest.
• CEO Laurence Fink and Director Rachel Lord sold a total of 30,090 shares recently, marking a notable decrease in their ownership positions.

Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 329 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,352 shares of company stock worth $55,486,962 over the last three months. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock traded down $0.55 on Tuesday, reaching $1,117.27. 102,223 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 787,813. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,030.13 and a 200-day moving average of $977.80. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $173.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,130.66.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The business 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 15.83% and a net margin of 29.68%. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.