Foster & Motley Inc. Has $243,000 Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 237 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in BlackRock by 1,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 17,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,384,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 5.1% during the third quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 518 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% during the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 340 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.6% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,364 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. raised its position in BlackRock by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 282 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,075.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $166.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a PEG 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,025.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $960.42. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

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.