BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Montag A & Associates Inc.

Montag A & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 742 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $784,000. Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $2,159,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 4,051 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,153,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $343,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 272,110 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $278,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $973.22 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,019.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $973.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. 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. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

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.