BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Alterity Financial Group LLC

Alterity Financial Group LLC cut its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 861 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises about 1.0% of Alterity Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Alterity Financial Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $115,000. United Bank raised its holdings in BlackRock by 17.1% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 1,287 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 35.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 11.7% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,452 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total transaction of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total transaction of $765,272.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,574,225.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE BLK opened at $832.59 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $845.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $805.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $742.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 3.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.84 by $0.82. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 30.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.93 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.81 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $5.10 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. BNP Paribas raised BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.73.

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.