SCS Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management LLC has acquired a new position in BlackRock ($BLK), purchasing 693 shares valued at approximately $656,000 in the first quarter.
• CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock for over $13.5 million, representing a 4.57% decrease in his ownership, while other insiders have also sold shares totaling around $74.7 million in the last 90 days.
• BlackRock has reported a quarterly earnings beat with an EPS of $12.05, exceeding analyst expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, reflecting a 1.9% yield.

SCS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 693 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,018,000. Allianz SE grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,868,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,307,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,102.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $170.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.45. 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 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,171.89. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $1,113.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,004.60.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

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.

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