Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $45.18 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in BlackRock by 7.1%, now holding 47,737 shares valued at approximately $45.18 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• BlackRock reported an EPS of $12.05 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $10.41, while its revenue increased by 12.9% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.8%, with a dividend payout ratio of 50.39%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,737 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,621 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $45,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Detalus Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% during the 1st 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 period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% during the 1st 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 period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.0% during the 1st 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 period. Finally, Crumly & Associates Inc. lifted 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 valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $2.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,128.45. 356,048 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 746,595. The company has a market cap of $174.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.42. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $1,098.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $996.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.