Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 7,090 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,040 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,090 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $54,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $518,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,432,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in BlackRock by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE BLK opened at $947.45 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $977.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $992.68. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $147.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, 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 quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.