BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by LM Advisors LLC

LM Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 857 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 268 shares during the quarter. LM Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $879,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. United Bank boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1,150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $105,000. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 467 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,609 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,174,000 after buying an additional 1,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $968.79 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $150.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $980.33 and a 200-day moving average of $990.36.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.