Cullen Investment Group LTD. Decreases Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,918 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 762 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 534 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total value of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $971.54 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $752.30 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $922.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $976.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The company has a market cap of $150.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.81 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,077.08.

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.