Summitry LLC Sells 226 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Summitry LLC cut its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 32.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 465 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 226 shares during the period. Summitry LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE BLK opened at $974.69 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $981.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $990.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $151.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently 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.