BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,427 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $77,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLK. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,130.85.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 7.4 %

NYSE BLK opened at $822.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $968.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $992.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $127.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued 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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.