BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in BlackRock by 20.5%, ending the first quarter with approximately 427,769 shares, valued at ~$404.87 million.
• Major investors, including Vanguard and GAMMA Investing LLC, have increased their holdings, with Vanguard now owning around 13.76 million shares worth over $13 billion.
• Analysts' price targets for BlackRock vary, with JPMorgan setting a new target of $1,093, and the average price target across analysts is $1,151.21.

Raymond James Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 20.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 427,769 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 110,279 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of BlackRock worth $404,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Detalus Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% during the first quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 786 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% during the first quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 579 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.0% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $8.3170 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,127.8030. 602,769 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 498,334. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,171.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,074.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $989.18. The stock has a market cap of $174.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.42.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Bank of America raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Argus restated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

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.