Short Interest in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Declines By 13.9%

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,360,000 shares, a decline of 13.9% from the December 15th total of 1,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 662,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:BLK traded up $8.51 on Friday, reaching $1,004.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,079,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 610,586. The company has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1,027.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $947.28. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

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

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 491 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,124,000. Trust Co. of Oklahoma grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 2,037 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,088,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $279,000. Finally, Traynor Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 431 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% 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.