BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 758,252 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 382 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.49% of BlackRock worth $777,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,038,000 after buying an additional 4,210 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $40,532,000 after buying an additional 12,864 shares during the period. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,284,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK traded up $3.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $993.19. The stock had a trading volume of 494,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,446. The company has a market cap of $154.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $916.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $978.04. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. 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 issued its 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 company 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 business's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

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.