LS Investment Advisors LLC Sells 207 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

LS Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,851 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 207 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises 2.0% of LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $988.88 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $752.30 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $923.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $974.25. The company has a market capitalization of $153.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,082.46.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $56,261,628.34. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.