Lee Financial Co Trims Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Lee Financial Co reduced its stake in BlackRock by 19% during Q1, holding 1,364 shares worth approximately $1.29 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $1,151.21 for BlackRock, with multiple brokerages rating it as a "Moderate Buy."
• BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, representing a 1.8% yield and set to be paid on September 23rd.

Lee Financial Co cut its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,364 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Lee Financial Co's holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK traded up $23.1220 on Friday, reaching $1,147.8720. The stock had a trading volume of 433,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 756,544. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.75 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 2.16 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,082.48 and a 200 day moving average of $991.86. 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 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 business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The company's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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.