Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. Reduces Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,347 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 304 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for approximately 1.8% of Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,520 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,584,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,112,000. Country Club Bank boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 2,981 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 90,994 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $94,944,000 after buying an additional 7,742 shares during the period. Finally, Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 4,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,019,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,014.43 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,025.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $966.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market cap of $157.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 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. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.