BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Lindenwold Advisors INC

Lindenwold Advisors INC lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,707 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up 1.5% of Lindenwold Advisors INC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Lindenwold Advisors INC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $957.17 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $982.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $987.81. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year 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 cap of $148.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.