Xcel Wealth Management LLC Takes $731,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Xcel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 713 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $731,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,292 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,024,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,525,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 761 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,057,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.7 %

BLK stock opened at $979.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $151.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,003.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $980.92. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.