BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Blue Edge Capital LLC

Blue Edge Capital LLC lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 21 shares during the period. Blue Edge Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLK. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,210.00 to $950.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,099.62.

BlackRock Trading Up 10.0 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $897.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $139.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $947.97 and a 200-day moving average of $988.95. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (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 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 earned $9.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company 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.