US Bancorp DE Has $222.67 Million Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE reduced its position in BlackRock by 1.6%, holding 212,213 shares valued at approximately $222.67 million at the end of the second quarter.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of BlackRock's stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Royal Bank of Canada and Goldman Sachs during the first quarter.
• Recent analyst ratings for BlackRock show a range of sentiments, with target prices adjusted between $1,224.00 and $1,396.00, indicating varying confidence levels among brokerages.

US Bancorp DE lowered its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 212,213 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,343 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned 0.14% of BlackRock worth $222,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 buying an additional 555,098 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 32.8% during 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. Unisphere Establishment boosted its position in BlackRock by 29.2% during the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 839,500 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $794,570,000 after purchasing an additional 189,500 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in BlackRock by 58.8% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 381,447 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $361,032,000 after purchasing an additional 141,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research cut BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,254.47.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $296,002,472.28. This trade represents a 5.32% 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 hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,163.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $180.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,184.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,132.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,032.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%.BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. Analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.39%.

About BlackRock

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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