Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Reduces Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,081 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 701 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $15,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in BlackRock by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in BlackRock by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,038,000 after buying an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in BlackRock by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,532,000 after buying an additional 12,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $46,284,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $989.39 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $752.30 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $916.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $978.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

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.