BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp trimmed its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,819 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,152,336 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,252,126,000 after buying an additional 138,455 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in BlackRock by 3.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,369,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,178,048,000 after buying an additional 104,844 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,329,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,148,586,000 after buying an additional 35,161 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 22.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,105,314 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,361,064,000 after buying an additional 379,631 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,915,197 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,463,536,000 after buying an additional 15,290 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total value of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,032.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,366,142.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLK. BNP Paribas raised shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.73.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK traded down $1.42 on Friday, reaching $833.70. The company had a trading volume of 532,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 591,890. The company has a fifty day moving average of $805.91 and a 200-day moving average of $743.31. The company has a market capitalization of $124.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.84 by $0.82. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.81% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.93 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.81 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.88%.

BlackRock 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.