Matisse Capital Makes New Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Matisse Capital acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 940 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $964,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,014.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,026.43 and its 200 day moving average is $963.86. The company has a market capitalization of $157.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 2.06 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, 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 value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.