Bridges Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,691 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 88,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,691 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 1.3% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $90,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 7.3% in the third quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,292 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,024,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.1% during the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 761 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,057,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5.4% in the third quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 1,640 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.7 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $979.44 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. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,003.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $981.81.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.