Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 52,839 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 36.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,075 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 52,839 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up approximately 1.1% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of BlackRock worth $86,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 257 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Convergence Financial LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 783 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $974.60 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $948.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $969.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is 50.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,096.31.

Insider Activity

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

BlackRock Company 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.

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