BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Smithfield Trust Co

Smithfield Trust Co increased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 308 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the quarter. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,620 shares of company stock worth $59,085,750 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $967.48 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $998.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $983.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.