Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Trims Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,738 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 720 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.05% of BlackRock worth $84,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 14,473 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 1,123 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,151,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690 shares during the period. Finally, First American Trust FSB raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 11,469 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,757,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $974.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $981.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $990.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on BLK. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.