MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 1,046 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,356 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,046 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $34,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 81.5% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $54,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Barclays raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,019.62.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $7.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,019.45. 481,917 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 579,612. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business's 50 day moving average is $991.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $885.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $725.86 and a one year high of $1,068.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business's revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,832,000. This trade represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.