BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Holdings Decreased by American International Group Inc.

American International Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,901 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 433 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $35,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,181,346,000 after buying an additional 749,654 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in BlackRock by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in BlackRock by 3.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,369,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,178,048,000 after purchasing an additional 104,844 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in BlackRock by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,006,490,000 after purchasing an additional 58,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $1,812,920,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK traded down $0.38 on Friday, hitting $769.33. 376,815 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 554,711. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $845.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $776.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $790.39. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. 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 research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

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.