455 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Acquired by AA Financial Advisors LLC

AA Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 455 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings 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 boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased 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. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,070.81 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,024.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $959.65. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,082.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.