Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 2,141 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its holdings in BlackRock by 15.5%, selling 2,141 shares and owning 11,657 shares worth approximately $11 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Laurence Fink selling 12,054 shares for over $13.5 million and Director J. Richard Kushel selling 17,142 shares for around $19.2 million.
• BlackRock reported robust quarterly earnings with an EPS of $12.05, beating estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share with a 1.9% yield.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,657 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,141 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 401.5% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 876,836 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,152,907,000 after acquiring an additional 329,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after acquiring an additional 279,336 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Three equities research 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, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $3.49 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $1,128.46. The company had a trading volume of 575,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 668,852. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,133.07. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $174.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,057.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $985.88.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

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.