DMC Group LLC Has $1.84 Million Stake in BlackRock $BLK

DMC Group LLC trimmed its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,756 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 99 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for 1.4% of DMC Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. DMC Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Allianz SE raised its position in BlackRock by 2.6% during 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 position in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 17.2% during the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company’s 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 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,222.87.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,166.90 on Wednesday. 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 has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,184.13. The stock has a market cap of $180.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1,131.84 and its 200 day moving average is $1,031.25.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) 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. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

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.