Grimes & Company Inc. Lowers Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Grimes & Company Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 895 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,020.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,024.23 and a 200 day moving average of $953.90. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.