BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Everhart Financial Group Inc.

Everhart Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 72.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 197 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 523 shares during the quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of BLK traded down $14.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $974.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,253,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,976. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $1,011.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $977.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

BlackRock 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.