First Horizon Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK – Get Rating) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,912 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $115,000. United Bank lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 17.1% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 1,287 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 35.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 11.7% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,452 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on BlackRock from $800.00 to $779.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on BlackRock from $583.00 to $542.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on BlackRock from $868.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $750.00 price target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $755.92.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock traded up $8.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $668.65. The stock had a trading volume of 122,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,890. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 4.20 and a quick ratio of 4.20. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $503.12 and a twelve month high of $785.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $658.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $695.99.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $7.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.71 by $0.22. BlackRock had a return on equity of 13.66% and a net margin of 28.13%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.52 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 34.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 8th will be paid a $5.00 dividend. This represents a $20.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.00, for a total value of $2,088,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 71,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,629,672. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.00, for a total transaction of $2,088,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 71,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,629,672. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 35,799 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $694.50, for a total transaction of $24,862,405.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 484,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $336,363,712.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,374 shares of company stock valued at $27,346,615 in the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Profile

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BlackRock, Inc engages in providing investment management, risk management, and advisory services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. Its products include single and multi-asset class portfolios investing in equities, fixed income, alternatives, and money market instruments. The company was founded by Susan L.