Sfmg LLC Has $5.11 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sfmg LLC reduced its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,987 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 61 shares during the quarter. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $322,097,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $950.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $147.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $980.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $987.70.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.