BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stake Raised by Congress Wealth Management LLC DE

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 816 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $968.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $150.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average is $979.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $990.21. 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Citigroup raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.