AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 401 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $968.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $979.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $990.21. The firm has a market cap of $150.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G 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. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

BlackRock 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.