Flossbach Von Storch SE Sells 26,113 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Flossbach Von Storch SE cut its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,071 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 26,113 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE owned about 0.13% of BlackRock worth $202,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $65,010,000 after buying an additional 1,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,169,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Three equities 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.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $14.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $974.97. 1,253,611 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 821,976. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,013.24 and a 200 day moving average of $976.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The company has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % 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. Also, 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 value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Company 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.