BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 112,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,083 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for 1.2% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG owned approximately 0.07% of BlackRock worth $115,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $947.48 on Monday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $978.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $992.24.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s 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 owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Corporate 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.