Linscomb Wealth Inc. Sells 231 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. cut its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 0.7% of Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 3.2% during the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $250,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its holdings in BlackRock by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 11,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,859,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 282 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Barclays dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $944.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,004.72 and a 200-day moving average of $979.94. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

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.