Private Advisor Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,541 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 494 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $990.47 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $153.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,013.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $976.04. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.