Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Trims Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 51.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,440 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,506 shares during the quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft's holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $465,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in BlackRock by 4.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 46,035 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $36,245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 23.1% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 474 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,432,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,988,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of BLK traded up $20.58 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $1,073.19. The stock had a trading volume of 278,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 775,888. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,024.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $959.65. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $166.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The business's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

BlackRock 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.