MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Sells 40 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises approximately 1.1% of MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in BlackRock by 85.2% during the third quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 313 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 22.1% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 83 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in BlackRock by 4.1% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its holdings in BlackRock by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 425 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in BlackRock by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,044,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $988.02 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,024.23 and a 200 day moving average of $971.03. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.