Cerity Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 121,403 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 11,667 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.08% of BlackRock worth $124,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank boosted its position in BlackRock by 1.1% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in BlackRock by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 373,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $354,647,000 after acquiring an additional 25,755 shares in the last quarter. Tenere Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth $14,419,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 221.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $822.38 on Monday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $968.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $992.74. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $127.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,130.85.

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.