Osprey Private Wealth LLC Acquires 60 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Osprey Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,807 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 3.4% of Osprey Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Osprey Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $1,655,000. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $3,478,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,982,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 19,214 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $19,696,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in BlackRock by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 31,520 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,311,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.3 %

BlackRock stock opened at $1,017.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $157.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,026.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $965.17. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week 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. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 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.