First Foundation Advisors Has $3.11 Million Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Foundation Advisors cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,210.00 to $950.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,099.62.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of BLK opened at $866.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $134.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $947.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $988.95.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS 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 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. 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 2.40%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio 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.