Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 77,808 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Fisher Asset Management reduced its BlackRock stake by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 77,808 shares. It still held 1,824,359 shares, worth about $1.95 billion at quarter-end.
• Wall Street analysts remain generally positive on BlackRock, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus. The average price target is about $1,269.06.
• BlackRock reported strong quarterly results, including EPS of $12.53 versus expectations of $12.40 and revenue of $6.70 billion, up 27% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $5.73 per share.

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,824,359 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 77,808 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.18% of BlackRock worth $1,952,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 866.7% during the third quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 29 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Barclays raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,269.00 to $1,128.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,269.06.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,073.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $917.39 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,018.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,053.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.57 billion, a PE ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 57.53%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total value of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 45,024 shares of company stock valued at $47,431,063 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.92% of the company's stock.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.

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