Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Cuts Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 21 shares during the quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $900.50 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $139.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $985.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $985.29. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

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.