SRN Advisors LLC Acquires 438 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

SRN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 71.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the quarter. SRN Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. State Street Corp increased its holdings in BlackRock by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 30,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in BlackRock by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,102,643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,130,330,000 after purchasing an additional 160,323 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BLK. UBS Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.5 %

BLK opened at $953.38 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $147.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,006.16 and a 200-day moving average of $980.19.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.