Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $828,000 Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 116.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 807 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $944.49 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1,004.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $979.94. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.