BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Navalign LLC

Navalign LLC decreased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,806 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Navalign LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 450 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co. increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% in the second quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 602 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Seaport Global Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Seaport Global Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,733 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,646,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 4.3% during the third quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 385 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $2.53 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $832.59. The stock had a trading volume of 531,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 599,850. The firm has a market cap of $124.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $845.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $805.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $742.68.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.84 by $0.82. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.81% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.81 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 55.88%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at $3,366,142.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,366,142.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028 in the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Five research 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.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.73.

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.