Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Has $23.12 Million Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 12%, bringing its total ownership to approximately $23.12 million during the second quarter.
• Insider selling activity includes notable sales from directors Fabrizio Freda and Rachel Lord, with the latter selling shares worth over $20 million and decreasing their ownership significantly.
• Several financial institutions, including Royal Bank of Canada and Goldman Sachs, have also increased their stakes in BlackRock, reflecting a broader trend of institutional investment in the company.

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,989 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 2,357 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $23,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in BlackRock by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 32.8% in the 1st 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 last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth $231,000. Finally, Unisphere Establishment grew its position in BlackRock by 29.2% in the 1st 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 last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction 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 represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLK. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,362.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,252.00 to $1,301.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,258.56.

BlackRock Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,132.12 on Friday. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,184.13. The company has a market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,134.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,035.09. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.36 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 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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