Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 362 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,496 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 362 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $15,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.7 %

BLK opened at $979.44 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1,003.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $980.92. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $151.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. Analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

BlackRock Company 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.