Clearbridge Investments LLC Decreases Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 53,040 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,090 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $54,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $947.45 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $977.53 and a 200 day moving average of $992.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.