United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Cuts Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,416 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,761 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $17,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,356,357,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $572,730,000. Amundi acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $528,792,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $343,976,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $889.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $138.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $937.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $987.19. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

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.