FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. Cuts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 385 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $947.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $147.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $977.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $992.68. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last three months. 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.