BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Position Reduced by RNC Capital Management LLC

RNC Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 66,319 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 139 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises approximately 3.2% of RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $53,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $712,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 47,042.9% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 33,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,808,000 after acquiring an additional 32,930 shares during the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $387,000. Aspen Grove Capital LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $2,758,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 15th. TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.73.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $835.48 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $804.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $742.03. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $845.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.84 by $0.82. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 30.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.88%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.