MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Has $1.27 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises 1.1% of MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $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. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $988.02 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 firm has a market capitalization of $153.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,024.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.03.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s 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.