Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Sells 611 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,518 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 611 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $968.79 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $980.33 and its 200 day moving average is $990.36. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The company has a market cap of $150.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

About BlackRock

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.