Berkeley Inc Sells 340 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Berkeley Inc lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 49.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 342 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. Berkeley Inc's holdings in BlackRock were worth $350,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 534 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLK. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,261,628.34. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $10.72 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $969.17. The company had a trading volume of 149,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 688,808. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $752.30 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $150.15 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $922.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $974.57.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.81 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

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.