MSH Capital Advisors LLC Invests $4.18 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,074 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,176,000. BlackRock comprises 1.3% of MSH Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $889.21 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $937.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $987.19. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $138.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. 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 data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

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.