BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by West Michigan Advisors LLC

West Michigan Advisors LLC decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 596 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 44 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $979.44 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $151.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,003.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $980.92.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.