Interchange Capital Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Interchange Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 388 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Interchange Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $964.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $149.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $980.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $989.75. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given 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 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

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.