Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 2,062 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 240,189 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,062 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $246,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. raised its stake in BlackRock by 7,975.0% in the fourth quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 323 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 10,078 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,331,000 after buying an additional 6,137 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 534 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $542,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 23,436 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,024,000 after acquiring an additional 2,830 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $947.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $977.53 and a 200-day moving average of $992.68. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.