EP Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC has increased its holdings in BlackRock by 0.5%, now owning a total of 61,079 shares valued at approximately $57.81 million.
• A number of institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and UBS AM, have significantly increased their stakes in BlackRock, leading to 80.69% of the company's stock being held by institutional investors.
• BlackRock recently announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.8%, scheduled for payment on September 23rd.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,079 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $57,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,563,000. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 272 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock traded down $9.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1,099.21. 487,573 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 446,742. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,110.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,002.11.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Argus restated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,154.07.

BlackRock 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.