BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Quent Capital LLC

Quent Capital LLC reduced its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 635 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Republic Capital LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $681,000. Hartline Investment Corp acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $8,930,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,488,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.3 %

BLK opened at $988.02 on Wednesday. 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 one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $153.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,024.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $971.03.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 48.57%.

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.