Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 35 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lessened its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,649 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 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. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $981.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $990.51. The company has a market capitalization of $151.32 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

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.