Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Trims Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,416 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,292 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises approximately 0.8% of Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $58,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 55.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,958 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,496,000 after buying an additional 10,284 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management lifted its position in BlackRock by 6.6% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 1,140 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,082,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in BlackRock by 36.9% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 7,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,054,000 after buying an additional 2,004 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 5,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,794,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 48.2% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,283,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.83, for a total value of $18,824,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,023,421.24. This trade represents a 67.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 108,190 shares of company stock worth $113,161,681. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,058.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,082.45. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,013.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $902.97.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Saturday, December 7th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,039.17.

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.