Cantillon Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 483,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,906 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up about 3.0% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned about 0.31% of BlackRock worth $495,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,904,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,432,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.7 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $979.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $151.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,003.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $981.81. 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.