Bard Financial Services Inc. Decreases Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Bard Financial Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,950 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $3.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $1,017.48. 200,406 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 419,772. The firm has a market cap of $157.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,030.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $934.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.00.

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.