Prudential Financial Inc. Has $142.55 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 139,062 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,513 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of BlackRock worth $142,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,097,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $950.43 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $980.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $989.13. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $147.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

BlackRock 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.