BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Janney Capital Management LLC

Janney Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,098 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 739 shares during the quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 19.9% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,941 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,827,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 28,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,327,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 6,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 5.2% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,008.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,025.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $951.47. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % 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. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.