O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. Has $869,000 Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 34.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 848 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,004.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,028.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $944.64. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,103.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % 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 Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.