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

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 46.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,189 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,001 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in BlackRock by 47,042.9% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 33,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,808,000 after purchasing an additional 32,930 shares during the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $387,000. Aspen Grove Capital LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $2,758,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. TD Cowen raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total transaction of $2,669,833.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 70,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,972,959.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028 in the last 90 days. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $835.48 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00. The firm has a market cap of $124.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $804.21 and its 200-day moving average is $742.03.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.73 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 55.88%.

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.