Ieq Capital LLC Sells 342 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ieq Capital LLC cut its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,854 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 342 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $65,010,000 after buying an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,169,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Citigroup increased their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of BLK stock traded down $13.71 on Friday, hitting $975.68. The stock had a trading volume of 600,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 801,293. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $151.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,013.24 and a 200 day moving average of $976.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

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.