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

Claro Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 24 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $420,000. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 384 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $4,456,000. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $246,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,485 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,374,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % 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 company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,083.92.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.1 %

BlackRock stock traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $956.63. The stock had a trading volume of 550,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 696,236. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,030.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $941.35.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

BlackRock Company 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.