MV Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

MV Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 131 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,712,493,000 after purchasing an additional 68,405 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in BlackRock by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,663,330,000 after purchasing an additional 30,182 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,356,357,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,102,643 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,130,330,000 after acquiring an additional 160,323 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $947.48 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $978.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $990.69. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current 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 company has a market cap of $147.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three equities 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, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.