Scott & Selber Inc. Sells 61 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Scott & Selber Inc. lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,296 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Scott & Selber Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $965.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,002.25 and a 200-day moving average of $983.33. The stock has a market cap of $149.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share 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 paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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 price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock 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.