BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC

Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLKFree Report) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,260 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $2,877,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,201,000. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $700,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 8.2% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 256,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $269,591,000 after purchasing an additional 19,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in BlackRock by 6,347.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 42,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,239,000 after buying an additional 41,579 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 2.9%

NYSE BLK opened at $961.10 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,039.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,079.27.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLKGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.55 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The company’s revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $11.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $5.73 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 64.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total value of $417,690.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,618,174.85. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total value of $31,675,823.58. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. CICC Research upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,244.00 to $1,267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,308.89.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on BlackRock

BlackRock Company Profile

(Free Report)

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

See Also

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

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