Jones Financial Companies Lllp Sells 4,863 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,779 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,863 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $43,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $10,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $979.44 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,003.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $981.81.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.