Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. First National Trust Co raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 10,731 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,000,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its position in BlackRock by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 2,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. Postrock Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $1,158,000. Finally, Renasant Bank grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 288 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of 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’s fifty day moving average is $985.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $985.29. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $139.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors 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. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.