BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by United Capital Financial Advisors LLC

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,416 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 5,761 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $17,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% in the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,496,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of BLK traded up $10.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $875.86. 1,034,313 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 684,910. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $930.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $985.89. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $748.02 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $135.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,077.08.

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.