Palouse Capital Management Inc. Sells 103 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,473 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 103 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises approximately 3.0% of Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,663,330,000 after purchasing an additional 30,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $993,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $973.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,019.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $972.80. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About BlackRock

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.