BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stake Reduced by MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC

MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,348 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 534 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 3.1% of MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $21,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,712,493,000 after purchasing an additional 68,405 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,200,450,000 after purchasing an additional 93,844 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 190,188 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,450,475,000 after purchasing an additional 26,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $2,356,357,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. TD Cowen dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,077.08.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $56,261,628.34. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $6.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $989.39. The company had a trading volume of 676,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,044. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $916.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $978.08. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $752.30 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $153.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.81 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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