BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 877 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $895,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.1 %

BLK opened at $1,016.99 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,025.37 and its 200-day moving average is $951.85. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45. The company has a market capitalization of $157.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.