Modera Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Modera Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in BlackRock by 1.6% in Q1, now holding 59,409 shares valued at approximately $56.23 million.
• Total insider sales at BlackRock amounted to 49,352 shares worth $55.49 million in the last quarter, indicating significant insider trading activity.
• BlackRock recently announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21, with an annualized yield of 1.86% and a payout ratio of 50.39%.

Modera Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,409 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 963 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $56,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 0.5% in the first quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 13,192 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,486,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 3.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 1,378 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 0.8% in the first quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 5,521 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,226,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in BlackRock by 224.9% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,662 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,466,000 after purchasing an additional 2,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,725,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BLK. Bank of America lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report 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 MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the 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 transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:BLK traded down $14.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,091.29. 672,794 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 646,030. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,130.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.34 and a quick ratio of 4.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,038.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $980.77. The company has a market cap of $169.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio 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.