BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,059 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays cut their target price 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

BLK opened at $954.11 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $148.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $980.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $987.36.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.