Scott & Selber Inc. Has $2.35 Million Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Scott & Selber Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,296 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Scott & Selber Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 41,771 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $42,820,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 18,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,461,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Partners LTD. increased its position in BlackRock by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $965.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,002.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $983.33. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.