Vision Financial Markets LLC Invests $1.44 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,435,000. BlackRock makes up approximately 1.5% of Vision Financial Markets LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $330,662,000. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $322,097,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $967.48 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $998.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $983.77. The stock has a market cap of $149.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,620 shares of company stock worth $59,085,750. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.