Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC Has $11.50 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC lowered its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 277 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for about 2.1% of Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,004.23 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,028.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $944.64. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.35%.

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.