Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $3.83 Billion Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,738,222 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,323 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises 0.7% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 2.41% of BlackRock worth $3,832,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 709 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 64.3% in the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in BlackRock by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,015 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,612,000 after purchasing an additional 2,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock 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 trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of BLK opened at $965.18 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1,002.25 and its 200-day moving average is $983.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 announced 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.