Byrne Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Byrne Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises 1.4% of Byrne Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Byrne Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of BLK opened at $991.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,025.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $967.09. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

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.