BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Wintrust Investments LLC

Wintrust Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 38.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 261 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 166 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $268,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. United Bank grew its position in BlackRock by 1.1% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $285,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $334,000. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $241,000. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 14.3% during the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 351 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $909.96 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. 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 stock has a market cap of $141.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $987.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $985.88.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

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.