Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 532 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,983 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 532 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1 %

BLK opened at $957.17 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $982.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $987.81. The company has a market capitalization of $148.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Company 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.