Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 71,807 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 14,773 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for approximately 2.8% of Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $73,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $993,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,526,120,000 after purchasing an additional 791,874 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $330,662,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after buying an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $990.47 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,013.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $976.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 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.