Wellington Management Group LLP Has $297.57 Million Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in BlackRock by 8.2%, selling 28,219 shares and now holds 314,397 shares valued at approximately $297.57 million.
• Insider trading activity has been significant, with directors J. Richard Kushel and Rachel Lord selling a combined total of 35,178 shares worth over $39.5 million, reflecting notable decreases in their positions.
• BlackRock reported a strong quarterly earnings result with an EPS of $12.05, surpassing analysts' estimates, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.8%.

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 314,397 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 28,219 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.20% of BlackRock worth $297,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings 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 period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock traded up $23.1220 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,147.8720. The stock had a trading volume of 433,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,641. 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 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,171.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,086.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $992.76.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.36 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm'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 sale, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the firm'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 in the company, valued at $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

About BlackRock

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.