Vantage Wealth Acquires New Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Vantage Wealth acquired a new stake in BlackRock, purchasing 19,070 shares valued at approximately $20 million, which constitutes about 4.5% of its total portfolio.
• CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock for over $13.5 million, resulting in a 4.57% decrease in his ownership, while insider selling totaled 66,494 shares worth nearly $74.7 million in the last quarter.
• Analysts have mixed views on BlackRock, with JPMorgan raising its target price to $1,093 and Morgan Stanley lowering theirs to $1,224, leading to an average target price of $1,154.07, indicating a generally positive sentiment.

Vantage Wealth purchased a new position 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 purchased 19,070 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $20,009,000. BlackRock makes up about 4.5% of Vantage Wealth's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $6.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $1,135.87. 366,005 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 729,940. The company's 50-day moving average is $1,119.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,013.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The company has a market capitalization of $175.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,171.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,154.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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.