Strategic Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,311 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,344,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after purchasing an additional 30,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,081,561,000 after acquiring an additional 40,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044,962 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7 %

BLK opened at $973.22 on Monday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,019.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $973.49. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $150.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

BlackRock 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.