Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $56.84 Million Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in BlackRock by 86.8%, selling 354,871 shares and retaining 54,171 shares, valued at approximately $56.8 million.
• BlackRock's stock recently opened at $1,142.76 and has seen a significant price range over the past year, with a 52-week low of $773.74 and a high of $1,171.89.
• BlackRock's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $12.05, surpassing estimates and showing a 12.9% year-over-year revenue increase to $5.42 billion.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 86.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,171 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 354,871 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $56,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:BLK traded down $7.22 on Tuesday, reaching $1,129.00. The stock had a trading volume of 189,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 726,974. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,171.89. The firm's fifty day moving average is $1,120.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,014.87. The company has a market cap of $174.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 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 (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their target price on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,154.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the company'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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.