Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $147.53 Million Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 143,914 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 11,407 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises approximately 1.7% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $147,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $10.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $1,062.04. 51,353 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 760,803. The stock has a market cap of $164.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,024.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $958.99. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

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.