Argent Capital Management LLC Has $28.30 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Argent Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,611 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 594 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $28,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. State Street Corp lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after acquiring an additional 42,757 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after acquiring an additional 30,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,081,561,000 after acquiring an additional 40,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,310,762,000 after buying an additional 46,728 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of 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, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,100.50.

BlackRock Trading Up 5.1 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,012.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,029.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $943.81.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now 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. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.