BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stake Reduced by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,660 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 734 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in BlackRock by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,663,330,000 after acquiring an additional 30,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after buying an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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 research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,006.61 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $155.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,025.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $951.85. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. 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.