Parcion Private Wealth LLC Lowers Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Parcion Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,084 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 141 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 996 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Pictet North America Advisors SA grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% during the third quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 760 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,427,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the third quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,603,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $269,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $987.08 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. 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 company has a market capitalization of $152.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,014.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $975.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share 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 issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.