Blue Chip Partners LLC Sells 311 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Blue Chip Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,421 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 311 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises approximately 2.2% of Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $26,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after purchasing an additional 791,874 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $330,662,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, 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 transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of BLK opened at $973.22 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,019.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $974.18.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. Barclays lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Company 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.