BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by FineMark National Bank & Trust

FineMark National Bank & Trust decreased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,214 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for approximately 0.8% of FineMark National Bank & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $22,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,712,493,000 after acquiring an additional 68,405 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after purchasing an additional 30,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $964.28 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $980.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $989.75. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.