Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Sells 20 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC decreased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 334 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 450 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,079,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 404 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $915.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $844.17.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

BLK opened at $789.13 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $845.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $779.77 and its 200 day moving average is $792.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is 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.