Fisher Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,060,640 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 131,607 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 1.33% of BlackRock worth $2,112,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 1,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,287,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $10,948,000. Tower Bridge Advisors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $970,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortress Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $314,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $979.44 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. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,003.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $980.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.