Perennial Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Perennial Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 217 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $228,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $2,018,000. Allianz SE lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% in the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,129.10 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,122.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,016.47. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,171.89. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Argus restated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,154.07.

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.