Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Has $6.13 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,984 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,829,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. 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 research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday, February 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.5 %

BLK opened at $974.97 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,011.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $978.98. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

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.