Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Sells 45 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,047 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. United Bank lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,789,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 3,923 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,725,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 1,548 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 14,622 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,883,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BLK. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE BLK opened at $950.43 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $147.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $980.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $989.13. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.