Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,552 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 36.2% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,864 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,214,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 64,382 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,702,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% during the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newport Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth approximately $479,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741 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 have recently commented on BLK shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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, TD Cowen upped their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,029.63 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45. The company has a market cap of $159.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.52, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,024.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $955.97.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.