Quattro Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Quattro Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 121.8%, owning 1,231 shares valued at approximately $1.29 million as of the end of the second quarter.
• Recent insider trading activity includes significant share sales by directors, with Fabrizio Freda and Rachel Lord selling 4,434 and 18,036 shares respectively, resulting in over $25 million in total sales.
• BlackRock's latest quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting earnings per share of $12.05, and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 paid to stockholders.

Quattro Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 121.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,231 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% in the second quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 10,080 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,576,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.7% in the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 223 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.8% during the second quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,681,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth $1,325,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 8.6% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,251 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $20,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, 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 have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,194.86.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.7%

BLK opened at $1,160.23 on Friday. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,183.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1,128.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,026.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45.

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, 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 previous year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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