Core Alternative Capital Raises Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Core Alternative Capital increased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 870 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the quarter. Core Alternative Capital’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7 %

BLK opened at $985.24 on Tuesday. 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 $1,084.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1,024.93 and its 200 day moving average is $969.98. The stock has a market cap of $152.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.