BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Avalon Trust Co

Avalon Trust Co lessened its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Choate Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 2,813 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,884,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 101,226 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $103,768,000 after acquiring an additional 1,748 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 689 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investment Management LLC now owns 3,461 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.1 %

BlackRock stock opened at $928.74 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $144.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $983.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $986.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.