American International Group Inc. Decreases Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

American International Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,901 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 433 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $35,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 200 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $439,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK traded down $10.54 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $778.34. 406,266 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 613,565. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $781.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $788.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $845.00.

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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

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.