BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,647 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,069,000. Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,983 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,184,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in BlackRock by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,117,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,579 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,146,000 after acquiring an additional 5,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,029,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % 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. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $973.54 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,023.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.96. The company has a market cap of $150.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors 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 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 (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

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.