Cape ANN Savings Bank Trims Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cape ANN Savings Bank lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,481 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up approximately 1.5% of Cape ANN Savings Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Cape ANN Savings Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $974.97 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,011.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $978.98.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 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 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.