Heritage Investors Management Corp Sells 698 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Heritage Investors Management Corp reduced its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 698 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for 1.4% of Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $45,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 87.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,119.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33. The stock has a market cap of $173.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,090.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,108.35. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 15.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $11.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 58.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total transaction of $22,500,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total value of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,514.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,314.71.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.