Sepio Capital LP Reduces Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sepio Capital LP cut its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,712,493,000 after purchasing an additional 68,405 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,072,787,000 after acquiring an additional 190,188 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,356,357,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in BlackRock by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,102,643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,130,330,000 after acquiring an additional 160,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,060,159 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,086,780,000 after purchasing an additional 52,612 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 7.4 %

NYSE BLK opened at $822.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $968.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $992.26. The stock has a market cap of $127.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,130.85.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Profile

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.