BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) is Conning Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Conning Inc. reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,740 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,217 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for approximately 1.3% of Conning Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Conning Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $37,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,824 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,945,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,740,000. Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,635,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in BlackRock by 436.5% during the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 338 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $991.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $1,025.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $967.09.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.