Morningstar Investment Management LLC Has $1.35 Million Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,312 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Zullo Investment Group Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $379,000. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 9,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,164,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,397,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 55,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $56,420,000 after purchasing an additional 7,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 669 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

BlackRock stock opened at $987.08 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,014.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $975.94. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $152.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 48.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.