BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Lokken Investment Group LLC

Lokken Investment Group LLC decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Lokken Investment Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,712,493,000 after purchasing an additional 68,405 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,072,787,000 after buying an additional 190,188 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,356,357,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in BlackRock by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,102,643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,130,330,000 after acquiring an additional 160,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $947.45 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $147.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $977.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $992.68. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Company 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.