Ieq Capital LLC Sells 342 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ieq Capital LLC decreased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,854 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 342 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 13,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in BlackRock by 242.3% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,455,000 after acquiring an additional 15,505 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 1,003.7% in the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,467,000 after acquiring an additional 2,188 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $987.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,014.60 and a 200 day moving average of $975.94. The stock has a market cap of $152.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

About BlackRock

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.