Geller Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Geller Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 438 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 143 shares during the quarter. Geller Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. State Street Corp boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after buying an additional 226,135 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,081,561,000 after buying an additional 40,865 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after buying an additional 46,728 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,197,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $942,640,000 after acquiring an additional 22,311 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,027.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.83, for a total transaction of $18,824,940.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,023,421.24. The trade was a 67.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 108,190 shares of company stock worth $113,161,681. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,047.43 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1,006.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $898.79. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $744.32 and a 1-year high of $1,068.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.28.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

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.