Bank of Montreal Can Cuts Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 313,151 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 16,186 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.20% of BlackRock worth $321,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BLK. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,130.85.

BlackRock Stock Down 7.4 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $822.38 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $968.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $992.74. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $127.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.