First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. decreased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,203 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 329 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $29,432,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in BlackRock by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in BlackRock by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $15,307,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 242.3% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,905 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $22,455,000 after buying an additional 15,505 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.4%

BlackRock stock traded up $3.62 on Tuesday, hitting $992.46. 474,427 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 688,457. 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 firm has a market cap of $153.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $925.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $972.43. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $752.30 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced 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 report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus 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.