Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 5,153 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. cut its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,153 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $42,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Freedom Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $723,000. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,551 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,590,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $883,000. Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its position in BlackRock by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 7,847 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,044,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cadence Bank lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 488 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $875.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $930.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $985.65. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $748.02 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. Analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,077.08.

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.