Viking Fund Management LLC Reduces Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Viking Fund Management LLC lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 25.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,000 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises about 1.2% of Viking Fund Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,712,493,000 after acquiring an additional 68,405 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after purchasing an additional 93,844 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the 1st 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,072,787,000 after buying an additional 190,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,450,475,000 after buying an additional 26,485 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,082.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the 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 owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of BLK stock traded down $4.79 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $984.18. The company had a trading volume of 479,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 688,025. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company's fifty day moving average is $923.63 and its 200 day moving average is $974.25. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $752.30 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.81 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.63%.

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.