Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,876 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises about 0.5% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $2,018,000. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $40,868,000. Allianz SE raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,435,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $15,307,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,127.8030 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,077.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $990.15. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,171.89. The firm has a market cap of $174.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 currently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays upped their price target on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

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.