First National Advisers LLC Has $5.11 Million Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First National Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,980 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for approximately 0.8% of First National Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BLK. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $928.74 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $983.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $986.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.