Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 36 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $947.96 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $146.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $994.60 and a 200-day moving average of $984.14.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.