Sienna Gestion Has $24.30 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Sienna Gestion increased its stake in BlackRock by 51.5% in Q3 and now owns 22,859 shares worth about $24.30 million, making BLK roughly 1.7% of its portfolio and its 8th largest holding.
• Insider selling has been heavy: insiders disposed of 111,319 shares valued at about $124.0 million in the past 90 days (including CFO Martin Small's 27,047-share, ~$31.7M sale), leaving insiders with just 1.98% ownership.
• BlackRock beat quarterly expectations (EPS $13.16 vs. $12.55 est.; revenue $7.01B vs. $6.80B) and raised its quarterly dividend to $5.73 (annualized $22.92, ~2.4% yield).

Sienna Gestion boosted its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 51.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,859 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 7,773 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for approximately 1.7% of Sienna Gestion's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Sienna Gestion's holdings in BlackRock were worth $24,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,644,007,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 105,267.4% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,789,915,000 after buying an additional 1,704,280 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 72.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,104,122,000 after buying an additional 842,901 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in BlackRock by 1,962.0% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 792,494 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $831,524,000 after buying an additional 754,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in BlackRock by 29,043.2% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 245,094 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $285,748,000 after acquiring an additional 244,253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total value of $417,690.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,618,174.85. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $953.67 on Monday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $1,089.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,098.99. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market cap of $148.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.93 earnings per share. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 64.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. TD Cowen lowered shares of BlackRock from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Evercore decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,235.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. CICC Research boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of BlackRock from a "moderate buy" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued 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 $1,308.89.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

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