Y.D. More Investments Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Y.D. More Investments Ltd cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 73.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 0.3% during the third quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 3.5% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Saturday, February 1st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of BLK opened at $1,005.99 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,025.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $966.82. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $155.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 2.06 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

BlackRock 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.