Shelton Capital Management Boosts Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Shelton Capital Management increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 886 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Vestcor Inc increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 2,932 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $625,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 443 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,428 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,154,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 10.0 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $897.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $947.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $988.95.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 2.32%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Bank of America cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,099.62.

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.