BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 82,738 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 720 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $84,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $322,097,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $974.69 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $981.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $990.51. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $151.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price 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. 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.