Inlet Private Wealth LLC Sells 302 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Inlet Private Wealth LLC reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,609 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 302 shares during the quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 17,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,384,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 5.1% during the third quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 518 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 340 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,364 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. increased its position in BlackRock by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 282 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,075.83 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $1,026.43 and its 200-day moving average is $962.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.