ERn Financial LLC Purchases 33 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

ERn Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 798 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $818,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,012.62 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,029.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $943.81. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $156.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Citigroup raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,100.50.

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.