Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 1,412 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. decreased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,016 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,412 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,011.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,026.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $949.91. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $156.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 48.57%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.