Arlington Financial Advisors LLC Takes $4.85 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Arlington Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 4,734 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,853,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,261,000 after buying an additional 2,833 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,023 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,824 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,945,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,740,000. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,635,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $991.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,025.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $967.09. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Saturday, February 1st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.