Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 36 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 36 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,435,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 6,949 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,124,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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 reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $947.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The company has a market capitalization of $146.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $994.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $984.14. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

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.