Motco Has $1.04 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Motco lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 18 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $944.49 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,004.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $979.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The company has a market cap of $146.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current 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 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.