BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Edge Wealth Management LLC

Edge Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,857 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 194 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises approximately 3.1% of Edge Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Edge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $15,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $995.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,028.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $944.29. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $154.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Company 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.