BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Position Lessened by First Western Trust Bank

First Western Trust Bank lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,130.85.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $887.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $137.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $972.74 and a 200-day moving average of $992.16. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change 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 2.35%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.