Clarius Group LLC Takes $802,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Clarius Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 782 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $802,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $993,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,526,120,000 after buying an additional 791,874 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $330,662,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after buying an additional 226,135 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $115,377,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’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 directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,004.23 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,082.45. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,027.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $946.18.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

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.