Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 362 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,496 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $15,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Citigroup raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.7 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $979.44 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,003.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $980.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The company has a market cap of $151.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s dividend 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.