Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 286 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $2,356,357,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $343,976,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $330,662,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $947.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $978.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $990.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

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 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.