Liberty Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Liberty Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,382,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,227,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $991.95 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,024.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $968.98. The company has a market cap of $153.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22.

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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.