Cibc World Markets Corp Trims Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cibc World Markets Corp trimmed its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,111 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,404 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $23,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $322,097,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.1 %

BLK stock opened at $957.84 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $982.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $987.43. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $148.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. 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 currently 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.