Keeler Thomas Management LLC Cuts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Keeler Thomas Management LLC trimmed its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,501 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises about 2.0% of Keeler Thomas Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Keeler Thomas Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly 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 worth $115,163,141 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $951.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,009.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $979.66. The firm has a market cap of $147.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

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.