Sienna Gestion Has $15.71 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sienna Gestion decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,325 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,489 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up 1.1% of Sienna Gestion’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $15,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $900.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $139.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $985.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $985.29. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BLK. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 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.