Strategy Asset Managers LLC Cuts Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 605 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.1 %

BLK opened at $947.48 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $978.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $990.69. The firm has a market cap of $147.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 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.