Banco de Sabadell S.A Invests $3.54 Million in BlackRock $BLK

Banco de Sabadell S.A purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,372 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,535,000. BlackRock makes up about 2.4% of Banco de Sabadell S.A’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 87.5% during the second quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,302.59.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% 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, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total transaction of $1,312,572.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,478,346.42. This trade represents a 16.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,071.87 on Friday. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,100.03 and its 200 day moving average is $1,084.42. The company has a market cap of $166.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 14.80%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $11.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 53.59%.

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.