Ethos Financial Group LLC Sells 102 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ethos Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 422 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $96,000. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 50.1% in the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% in the third quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 704 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 16.1% in the third quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 548 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $1,119,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.9 %

BLK opened at $959.02 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The company has a market capitalization of $148.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $996.52 and a 200-day moving average of $983.60.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Citigroup raised their target price 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.