BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,753 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 64 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after buying an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 104,468.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after acquiring an additional 791,874 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $330,662,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLK. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,075.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,026.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $963.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

About BlackRock

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.