BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Holdings Decreased by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 877 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,016.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,025.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $951.85. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 48.57%.

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.