BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Albion Financial Group UT

Albion Financial Group UT lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,355 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after buying an additional 30,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after buying an additional 226,135 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after acquiring an additional 40,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after acquiring an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents 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 Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLK. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,011.87 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,025.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $951.47. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The company has a market capitalization of $156.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

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.