BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC cut its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,598 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 286 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. United Bank increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in BlackRock by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 6,542 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 94.1% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 4,667 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,431,000 after purchasing an additional 2,262 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,722 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,635,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 11,283 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,713,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

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BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock traded up $4.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $950.48. The stock had a trading volume of 128,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 665,490. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $977.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $992.68. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market cap of $147.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLK. Barclays dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.