Donald L. Hagan LLC Sells 62 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Donald L. Hagan LLC reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,372 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 62 shares during the quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,432,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $24,957,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in 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 valued at $13,384,000 after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Ashburton Jersey Ltd bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 518 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,070.81 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 firm has a market capitalization of $165.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,024.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $959.65.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during 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%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.