Godsey & Gibb Inc. Lowers Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Godsey & Gibb Inc. lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises 2.4% of Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $23,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 5.1 %

BLK opened at $1,012.62 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,082.45. The company has a market cap of $156.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,029.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $943.81.

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. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,088.67.

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.