American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 302,639 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 52,621 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.20% of BlackRock worth $310,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Bank lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $334,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in BlackRock by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,260 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,096,000 after buying an additional 994 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 10,795 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,250,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,310 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,789,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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BlackRock Stock Down 0.5 %

BLK stock traded down $4.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $968.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 667,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,900. The company has a market cap of $150.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's 50-day moving average is $981.21 and its 200-day moving average is $990.51. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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 cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley upped 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, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.