Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV Trims Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 372 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 57 shares during the quarter. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $991.95 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,024.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $968.98. 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 stock has a market cap of $153.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.