First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 321 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $1,812,920,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after buying an additional 1,279,952 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,181,346,000 after acquiring an additional 749,654 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 24,171.5% during the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $346,831,000 after acquiring an additional 414,300 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after acquiring an additional 292,017 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $6.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $863.78. The stock had a trading volume of 68,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 597,567. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $128.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $820.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $803.13. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $885.10.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $874.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 81,042 shares of company stock valued at $68,587,117. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.