Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 1,158 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,158 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $957.17 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 1.90 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $982.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $987.81.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.