BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Mattern Capital Management LLC

Mattern Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,572 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 569 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up about 1.4% of Mattern Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Mattern Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Zullo Investment Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $379,000. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 9,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,164,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,397,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in BlackRock by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 55,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $56,420,000 after purchasing an additional 7,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 669 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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 raised their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $990.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,013.24 and its 200-day moving average is $976.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

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.