Rhumbline Advisers Lowers Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,281 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 17,829 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.16% of BlackRock worth $240,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,122,743,000 after purchasing an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $572,730,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related 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 value of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE BLK traded up $2.42 on Thursday, hitting $986.18. The stock had a trading volume of 147,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 686,739. The business's fifty day moving average price is $923.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $974.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $752.30 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $152.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research 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 research report on Wednesday, April 9th. 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 research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their target price on 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,082.46.

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.