Forte Capital LLC ADV Sells 13 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Forte Capital LLC ADV trimmed its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for approximately 1.2% of Forte Capital LLC ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after purchasing an additional 791,874 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $330,662,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $990.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $153.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,013.24 and its 200 day moving average is $976.04.

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, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by 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.