Retirement Systems of Alabama Lowers Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 30,477 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 335 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $28,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen raised their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three investment 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,039.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.83, for a total value of $18,824,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,628 shares in the company, valued at $9,023,421.24. The trade was a 67.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 108,190 shares of company stock valued at $113,161,681. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,056.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,015.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $904.88. The stock has a market cap of $163.65 billion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

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.