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

Skylands Capital LLC lessened its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 29.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 850 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd 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 position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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, January 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday, February 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of BLK opened at $974.97 on Monday. 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 $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,011.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $978.98.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.57%.

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.