Associated Banc Corp Sells 842 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Associated Banc Corp lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,370 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 842 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $30,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,097,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

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 value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $928.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $983.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $985.61. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

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.