Amalgamated Bank Has $29.43 Million Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $29,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of BLK opened at $951.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,009.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $979.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

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.