BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co lowered its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLKFree Report) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,029 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 623 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $2,877,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 23,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,201,000. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $700,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in BlackRock by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 256,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $269,591,000 after purchasing an additional 19,404 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,080.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,092.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,106.93.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLKGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $11.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 58.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,311.11.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on BLK

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. This represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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About BlackRock

(Free Report)

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

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