Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 13 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. cut its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,628 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $967.48 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $998.43 and its 200 day moving average is $983.77. The company has a market cap of $149.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % 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 the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,620 shares of company stock valued at $59,085,750. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently 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.