Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Management LP has acquired a new stake in BlackRock valued at approximately $1.73 million, purchasing 1,832 shares in the first quarter.
• BlackRock recently announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.86% and an annualized dividend totaling $20.84.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with an average target price of $1,151.21 for BlackRock shares.

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,832 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,734,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its position in BlackRock by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 816 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 717 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $707,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $154,000. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $652,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BLK. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $3.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,121.16. 145,323 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 788,145. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,130.66. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $1,030.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $977.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.36 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares of the company's stock, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 49,352 shares of company stock worth $55,486,962. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.