Cibc World Market Inc. Boosts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 9,504 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $72,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the third quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,251,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,829,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,070.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,024.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $959.65. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

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.