First Foundation Advisors Lowers Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Foundation Advisors decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $2,356,357,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $572,730,000. Amundi purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $528,792,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $343,976,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,210.00 to $950.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,099.62.

BlackRock Stock Down 3.4 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $866.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $134.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $947.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $988.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.