Naviter Wealth LLC Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Naviter Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 319 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cozad Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $226,000. TFB Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $221,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 211 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 32,809 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,152,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $947.96 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $146.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $994.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $985.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.