BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Argus Investors Counsel Inc.

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,256 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 2.2% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 334 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 450 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,079,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 404 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price target (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.42.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of BLK stock traded down $15.09 on Thursday, hitting $784.52. The company had a trading volume of 538,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,891. The firm has a market cap of $116.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $790.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $781.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total transaction of $29,498,425.54. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at $335,425,128.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 107,015 shares of company stock worth $86,751,357 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Company 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.