Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 620 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,382 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 620 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1 %

BlackRock stock traded down $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1,016.56. The stock had a trading volume of 146,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,075. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,030.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $930.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.44 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.00.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.