Linscomb Wealth Inc. Sells 231 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 231 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up approximately 0.7% of Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.0 %

BLK stock opened at $944.49 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $146.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,004.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $979.94. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is an increase 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 is presently 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.