Guggenheim Capital LLC Decreases Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Guggenheim Capital LLC reduced its stake in BlackRock by 13.7%, now holding 32,686 shares valued at approximately $30.94 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• BlackRock recently declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, set to be paid on September 23rd, with an annualized yield of 1.8%.
• CEO Laurence Fink and Director Rachel Lord both sold significant amounts of BlackRock shares, reflecting a decrease in insider ownership of the stock, with total insider sales amounting to $74.69 million over the past ninety days.

Guggenheim Capital LLC lowered its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,686 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 5,190 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $30,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Detalus Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the first quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% in the first quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 579 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.0% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crumly & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.5% in the first quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 864 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total transaction of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% 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 shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,140.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $176.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,092.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $994.55. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,171.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

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.

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