Schear Investment Advisers LLC Raises Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 892 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,596,000. Portfolio Design Labs LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 3,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,288,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC now owns 426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. New Republic Capital LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value 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 trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $988.02 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $153.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,024.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $971.03. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

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.