Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $45.09 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its holdings in BlackRock by 1.4% in Q1, holding 47,642 shares valued at approximately $45.09 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on BlackRock, with price targets ranging from $1,032 to $1,220 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, yielding 1.9%, to be paid on September 23rd to shareholders on record by September 5th.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,642 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 689 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $45,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,122,743,000 after buying an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,152,907,000 after buying an additional 329,244 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,591,716 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,631,684,000 after buying an additional 272,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,481,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total transaction of $16,641,167.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $296,002,472.28. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,115.50 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $1,043.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $982.13. The stock has a market cap of $172.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,130.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

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.

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