Root Financial Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 41.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 510 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Northern Financial Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $832,000. Newport Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $594,000. ShoreHaven Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 63,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,778,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunburst Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $980.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,021.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $971.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was 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 have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.