Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Reduces Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,916 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises about 2.1% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of 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, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,082.46.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $987.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $153.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $934.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $972.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $758.20 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.