Brown Advisory Inc. Decreases Stock Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 69.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,219 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 46,082 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $19,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock traded down $1.42 on Friday, hitting $1,102.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 545,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 693,792. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $996.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $971.03. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,105.72. The stock has a market cap of $170.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLK. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities 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 stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,132.29.

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.