Buckley Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Buckley Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 691 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 41 shares during the period. Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $115,000. United Bank increased its holdings in BlackRock by 17.1% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 1,287 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 35.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 11.7% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,452 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock traded up $15.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $835.48. 466,541 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 600,982. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $845.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 3.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $804.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $742.03.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.84 by $0.82. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.81% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.