Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co Decreases Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,940 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 210 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for approximately 0.7% of Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $988.02 on Wednesday. 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 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,024.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $971.03. The stock has a market cap of $153.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

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.