BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,059 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 161 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 7,517 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,706,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 30,956 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,733,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,625 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,741,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 118,003 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $120,966,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $954.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $980.87 and its 200-day moving average is $987.36. The company has a market cap of $148.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company 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 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.