Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in BlackRock by 70.2% during Q1, lowering its holdings to approximately $1.05 billion.
• BlackRock reported $12.05 EPS in its recent earnings, exceeding analysts' expectations, while its revenue for the quarter reached $5.42 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 50.39%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 70.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,113,620 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,624,602 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.72% of BlackRock worth $1,054,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $11.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,124.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 427,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 674,734. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,131.93. The company has a market capitalization of $174.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,054.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $985.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 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 presently 50.39%.

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.