BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,347 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 304 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up 1.8% of Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BLK. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,014.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $157.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,025.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $966.48. 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, 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 Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.