Cerity Partners LLC Has $144.38 Million Position in BlackRock $BLK

Cerity Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 137,607 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.09% of BlackRock worth $144,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in BlackRock by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 871 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 166.3% during the 1st quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Alliance LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 512 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,478,346.42. This represents a 16.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on BLK. Bank of America boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,372.00 to $1,313.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,302.59.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,071.87 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,100.03 and its 200-day moving average is $1,084.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 53.59%.

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.