Exchange Capital Management Inc. Has $12.95 Million Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,636 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 239 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for about 2.1% of Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 2.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $951.45 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,009.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $979.66. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. 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 market capitalization of $147.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.