Elk River Wealth Management LLC Sells 76 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Elk River Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,342 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 76 shares during the quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Emerald Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,286,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 13,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,644,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 242.3% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,455,000 after buying an additional 15,505 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 1,003.7% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 2,188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $987.08 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $152.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,014.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $975.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.