Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,228 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 783 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $16,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 208.3% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 70,956 shares of company stock worth $57,252,931. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $781.90 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $789.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $783.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $845.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 target price (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

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.