BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Old Port Advisors

Old Port Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 443 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 81.5% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.6 %

BLK stock traded down $6.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $1,019.00. 91,878 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 594,570. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,029.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $930.18. The company has a market capitalization of $157.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.35%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,063.00.

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.