Associated Banc Corp Has $30.11 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Associated Banc Corp trimmed its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 29,370 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 842 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $30,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $928.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $144.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $983.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $985.61. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.