Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 1,409 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 46.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,434 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,020.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 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’s 50-day moving average is $1,024.77 and its 200 day moving average is $952.31.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

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.