SG Americas Securities LLC Increases Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,911 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $58,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its stake in BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after buying an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in BlackRock by 106,934.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,441,000 after buying an additional 1,283,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 200.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 968,245 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,049.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,048.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,052.07. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 57.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Evercore dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,264.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

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.