Peoples Bank KS Makes New $358,000 Investment in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Peoples Bank KS has made a new investment of approximately $358,000 in BlackRock, acquiring 341 shares during the 2nd quarter.
• CEO Laurence Fink and Director J. Richard Kushel both sold significant portions of BlackRock stock, with Fink reducing his ownership by 4.57% and Kushel by 21.83%.
• BlackRock reported earnings of $12.05 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue up 12.9% year-over-year.

Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 341 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,243,059,000 after buying an additional 555,098 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after buying an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after buying an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $225,481,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the firm'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 owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% 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 hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. 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 note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $5.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1,142.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,504,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 445,605. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,171.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,119.82 and a 200 day moving average of $1,012.87. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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. 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 is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

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.