abrdn plc Has $54.95 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

abrdn plc decreased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,151 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $54,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.3 %

BLK stock opened at $1,017.12 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,026.10 and its 200-day moving average is $965.17. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock 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.