FineMark National Bank & Trust Increases Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

FineMark National Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,263 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,509 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises about 0.8% of FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $20,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in BlackRock by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 34,643 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,123,000 after acquiring an additional 9,690 shares in the last quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A now owns 3,056 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,483,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank increased its holdings in BlackRock by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 515 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $15.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching $784.11. The stock had a trading volume of 345,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,769. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $845.00. The company has a market capitalization of $116.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $790.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $781.51.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BLK. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 target price (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 107,015 shares of company stock worth $86,751,357. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.