BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by PFG Advisors

PFG Advisors trimmed its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 362 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 21 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $518,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in BlackRock by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $32,904,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $928.74 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $983.61 and a 200-day moving average of $986.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The company has a market capitalization of $144.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.