Heritage Investors Management Corp Trims Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Heritage Investors Management Corp decreased its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 698 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up approximately 1.4% of Heritage Investors Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $45,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,991,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,680,334,000 after purchasing an additional 227,192 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,281,641,000 after buying an additional 34,049 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $2,644,007,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 72.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,005,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,104,122,000 after acquiring an additional 842,901 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 105,267.4% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,789,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,280 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,119.25 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,090.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,108.35. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $173.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $11.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total value of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value of $22,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,305 shares of company stock worth $55,488,396. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on BLK shares. Freedom Capital raised BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $1,280.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,314.71.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.