Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Has $101.54 Million Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its stake in BlackRock by 18.7% during the first quarter, owning 107,280 shares worth approximately $101.5 million post-sale.
• Insider transactions include Director Fabrizio Freda selling 4,434 shares for about $4.98 million, indicating a significant ownership decrease of 55.84%.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on BlackRock, with target price upgrades from several firms, including Jefferies Financial raising it to $1,210, while Zacks downgraded the rating to "hold".

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lowered its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 18.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 107,280 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 24,700 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.07% of BlackRock worth $101,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total transaction of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock traded down $9.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1,099.21. The company had a trading volume of 487,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,742. The firm has a market cap of $170.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.45. 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 has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,171.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,110.95 and a 200 day moving average of $1,002.21.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.36 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Company 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.