Haverford Financial Services Inc. Sells 1,000 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Haverford Financial Services Inc. decreased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,861 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises 4.3% of Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. 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 research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. 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. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $950.43 on Friday. 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $980.77 and a 200-day moving average of $988.41. The company has a market capitalization of $147.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.