GTS Securities LLC Lowers Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

GTS Securities LLC reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 96.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,210 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 29,942 shares during the quarter. GTS Securities LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted 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 worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 534 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen dropped their target price 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. Bank of America dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.6%

BLK traded down $6.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $969.99. 151,597 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 690,862. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $922.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $975.86. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $752.30 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.81 EPS. Analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other 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 in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company 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.