BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stock Position Lowered by CGN Advisors LLC

CGN Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. CGN Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at $31,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,004.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,028.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $944.64. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.