CENTRAL TRUST Co Cuts Stock Holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,730 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 23 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bell Bank purchased a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $568,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 42.3% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 9.4% in the first quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 733 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $2,513,000. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $641,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. Argus increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,096.31.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $968.90 on Wednesday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $942.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $971.07. The firm has a market cap of $150.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.81 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

BlackRock Company 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.