BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stock Position Reduced by PFG Advisors

PFG Advisors lessened its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 362 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 21 shares during the period. PFG Advisors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $928.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $144.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $983.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $986.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.