Caprock Group LLC Has $4.07 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the 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 owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three research 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,075.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,025.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $960.42. The firm has a market cap of $166.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.