Front Row Advisors LLC Sells 50 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Front Row Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,944 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up 1.4% of Front Row Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Front Row Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $947.45 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $977.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $992.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About BlackRock

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.