BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by First Financial Bank Trust Division

First Financial Bank Trust Division lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,888 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 52 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 11.1% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,630,127,000 after acquiring an additional 435,358 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 24,171.5% during the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $346,831,000 after purchasing an additional 414,300 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after buying an additional 292,017 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $161,918,000. Finally, Mubadala Investment Co PJSC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $147,748,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of BLK opened at $957.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $885.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $824.58. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $957.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Argus increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.60.

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.