Avior Wealth Management LLC Sells 734 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Avior Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,660 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 734 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,006.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $155.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,025.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $951.85.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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 boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

About BlackRock

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.