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If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, then a potential option is BlackRock Equity Dividend A (MDDVX). MDDVX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
BlackRock is responsible for MDDVX, and the company is based out of New York, NY. BlackRock Equity Dividend A made its debut in October of 1994, and since then, MDDVX has accumulated about $4.91 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Tony DeSpirito, has been in charge of the fund since August of 2014.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.97%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 7.84%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. MDDVX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.7% compared to the category average of 15.63%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.65% compared to the category average of 13.97%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.89, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. With a negative alpha of -1.81, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 80.52% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $133.99 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
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Finance
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Technology
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Non-Durable
With turnover at about 45%, this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.