BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,650 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $15,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,496,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BLK opened at $889.21 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $937.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $987.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market cap of $138.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.