BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Holdings Trimmed by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. cut its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $518,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,038,000 after acquiring an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Down 7.4 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $822.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The company has a market capitalization of $127.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $968.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $991.65. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Bank of America decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,130.85.

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.