First National Bank of Omaha Sells 392 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First National Bank of Omaha lessened its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,592 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 392 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for approximately 1.1% of First National Bank of Omaha’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. First National Bank of Omaha’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $16,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. State Street Corp boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,081,561,000 after buying an additional 40,865 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after buying an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,197,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $942,640,000 after buying an additional 22,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,019.62.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,042.87 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,004.44 and its 200-day moving average is $896.26. The firm has a market cap of $161.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $742.22 and a 1-year high of $1,068.34. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.83, for a total transaction of $18,824,940.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,023,421.24. This represents a 67.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 108,190 shares of company stock worth $113,161,681 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.