AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 1,724 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc reduced its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,526 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,724 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in BlackRock were worth $25,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,082.46.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $4.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $984.18. 479,280 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 688,025. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $923.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $974.25. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $752.30 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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.