218 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Acquired by Abel Hall LLC

Abel Hall LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 218 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 46,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,970 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 474 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,432,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank grew its stake in BlackRock by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,988,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.2 %

BlackRock stock opened at $1,053.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $163.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 1.82 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. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,024.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $958.99.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 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.