Mechanics Bank Trust Department Decreases Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,556 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $383,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 21.2% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in BlackRock by 12.6% during the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 421 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 19.9% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $915,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,941 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,827,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,103.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,004.23 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,027.33 and a 200 day moving average of $947.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

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.