First Trust Advisors LP Trims Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 237,295 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 29,665 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.15% of BlackRock worth $243,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $518,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,793,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in BlackRock by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,038,000 after acquiring an additional 4,210 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $40,532,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BLK. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. 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 MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $23.84 on Thursday, hitting $916.38. 619,649 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 684,785. The company has a market cap of $142.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $924.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $983.94. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $748.02 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $12,838,649. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.