Baird Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in BlackRock by 6.8%, selling 13,357 shares and owning a total of 184,521 shares worth approximately $174.65 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Institutional investors own 80.69% of BlackRock, with Vanguard Group increasing its stake by 2.9% to hold over $13 billion worth of shares.
• BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with an upcoming payout date on September 23, and a current dividend yield of 1.8%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,521 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 13,357 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of BlackRock worth $174,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Detalus Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 579 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, Crumly & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 864 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $13.50 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,113.64. 391,296 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 744,455. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $1,104.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $998.85. The firm has a market cap of $172.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,171.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. BlackRock's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. Zacks Research lowered BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve investment 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

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.