Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 35 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lowered its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,649 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

BlackRock Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $974.69 on Wednesday. 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $981.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $990.51. The firm has a market cap of $151.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were 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 $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.