BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,022,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 50,584 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,048,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $2,356,357,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% during 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 during the period. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $343,976,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $330,662,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $944.75 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $146.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $976.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $993.09.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 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.