Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. Makes New $209,000 Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 206 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 18,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,461,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 893 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $20,079,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,620 shares of company stock worth $115,571,370. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $951.24 on Wednesday. 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 $147.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,000.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $983.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

BlackRock 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.