First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Raises Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,532 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 82 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,020.19 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market cap of $158.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,024.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $953.90. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.