Western Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Western Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 54.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,599 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,908 shares during the quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in BlackRock by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,038,000 after buying an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $46,284,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $15,307,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 cut 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. UBS Group cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock traded up $17.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $980.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 842,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 858,860. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $752.29 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $921.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $976.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.13%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.63%.

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.