BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Means Investment CO. Inc.

Means Investment CO. Inc. lowered its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 41.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,257 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 888 shares during the period. Means Investment CO. Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 9.1% during the first quarter. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV now owns 406 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,653 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,404,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 633 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $467,000. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $1,181,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Barclays raised 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. TD Cowen reduced 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,096.31.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK traded down $4.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $974.60. 855,808 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 692,307. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.34 and a quick ratio of 4.34. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.41. The business's 50-day moving average price is $948.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $970.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The company's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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.