Whittier Trust Co. Trims Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Whittier Trust Co. lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,364 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 391 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Bank lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $334,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 9.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 8.8% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,455,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 13.2% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 5,681 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,403,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE BLK opened at $956.47 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $981.50 and its 200-day moving average is $987.59. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $148.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business 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 $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. UBS Group raised 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. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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 report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.