BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Position Cut by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,356 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,046 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $34,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,665,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in BlackRock by 48.3% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 337,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $320,148,000 after purchasing an additional 109,771 shares during the period. Shum Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,182,000. Avestar Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 876 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covington Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 0.7% in the third quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,933 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,179,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,019.62.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,031.48 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $725.86 and a 12 month high of $1,068.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $989.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $884.21. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $159.76 billion, a PE ratio of 25.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.91 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. This represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Company 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.