Phoenix Financial Ltd. Has $1.19 Million Stock Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its stake in BlackRock by 72.9% in Q1, holding a total of 1,252 shares now valued at approximately $1.19 million.
• A number of institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly raised their stakes in BlackRock, reflecting strong institutional interest in the company.
• BlackRock recently declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21, translating to an annualized dividend of $20.84 and a yield of 1.85% for shareholders.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 72.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,252 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,734,000. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 241.4% in the 1st quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 54.8% in the 1st quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 791 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 50,203 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $47,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,116 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $14,307,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $1.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $1,123.24. 117,477 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 785,415. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,130.66. The firm has a market cap of $174.02 billion, a PE ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,032.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $978.79. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 29.68%. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 BlackRock 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders sold 49,352 shares of company stock worth $55,486,962. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Company 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.