BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stock Position Lessened by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,488 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,307 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in BlackRock were worth $67,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $627,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $818,000. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $681,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

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

BlackRock Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of BLK traded down $5.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $987.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 558,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 688,360. The company has a fifty day moving average of $931.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $972.72. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $758.20 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $153.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, 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.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BLK. TD Cowen lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,082.46.

BlackRock 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.