Dean Investment Associates LLC Trims Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Dean Investment Associates LLC reduced its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,912 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 547 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for 1.0% of Dean Investment Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 146,055 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $149,722,000 after acquiring an additional 27,643 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,635,000. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 1,112 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 248 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,176,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $866.65 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $934.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $986.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

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.