Yousif Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 974 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $19,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC increased 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 3.0%

BLK opened at $1,132.12 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,134.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,035.56. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,184.13. The company has a market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.36 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 target price for the company. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,258.56.

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.