First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 208 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for 4.1% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $19,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction 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 sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7 %

BLK stock opened at $985.24 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $152.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,024.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $969.98. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Barclays cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.