BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% during Q1, holding 58,391 shares valued at $55.27 million.
• BlackRock reported a 12.9% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, achieving $5.42 billion, and earnings per share of $12.05, surpassing estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, set to be paid on September 23rd, resulting in an annual yield of 1.8%.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 58,391 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,555 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $55,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $639,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 159.3% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,294,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Topsail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $445,000. Finally, Rothschild Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,259 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,391,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $6.35 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,133.45. 309,878 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 750,640. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,171.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,092.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $994.55.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.36 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid 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 1.8%. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

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.