BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. cut its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 302,639 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 52,621 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.20% of BlackRock worth $310,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $518,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,432,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $32,904,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $950.43 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $980.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $987.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 2.19%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three investment 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.com, the company has a consensus 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.