BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Sells 1,130 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its BlackRock stake by 14.9% in the first quarter, selling 1,130 shares and leaving it with 6,463 shares valued at about $6.22 million.
• BlackRock’s latest quarterly results topped expectations, with EPS of $12.53 and revenue of $6.70 billion, both ahead of analyst estimates. Revenue also rose 27% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on BLK, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $1,264.61. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $5.73 per share, or $22.92 annualized.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,463 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,130 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Birchbrook Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,264.61.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,049.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The business's fifty day moving average price is $1,048.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,052.07.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.53%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 210,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.92% of the company's stock.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

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