First Trust Advisors LP Has $243.25 Million Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 237,295 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 29,665 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $243,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Freedom Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $723,000. Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,551 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $883,000. Capital International Ltd. CA raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 7,847 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,044,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Cadence Bank boosted its stake in BlackRock by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 488 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $875.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $748.02 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $930.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $985.65.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.