CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. decreased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 241 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,059 shares during the quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during 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. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,019.62.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,042.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $161.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1,004.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $896.26. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $742.22 and a fifty-two week high of $1,068.34. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.83, for a total value of $18,824,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,023,421.24. This trade represents a 67.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 108,190 shares of company stock valued at $113,161,681. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.