Sepio Capital LP Lowers Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Sepio Capital LP reduced its holdings in BlackRock by 12.4%, owning 4,531 shares valued at approximately $4.29 million as reported in their recent SEC filing.
• Several large investors increased their stakes in BlackRock, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its holdings by an impressive 104,598.9% during the first quarter.
• BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, marking an annualized dividend of $20.84 and a yield of 1.9%, payable on September 23rd.

Sepio Capital LP reduced its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,531 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 639 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP's holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the business's 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 value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the business's 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 transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Barclays raised their price target on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock traded down $2.74 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,102.93. 367,384 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 734,377. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $1,113.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,003.92. The company has a market capitalization of $170.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,171.89.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.36 earnings per share. BlackRock's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.