Noesis Capital Mangement Corp Has $1.29 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Noesis Capital Mangement Corp boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 19 shares during the quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $979.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $151.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,003.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $980.92.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.