Kera Capital Partners Inc. Invests $4.44 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,326 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,435,000. BlackRock accounts for 1.3% of Kera Capital Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smith Salley Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,671,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 438 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,579,000. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,459,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,004.23 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a market cap of $155.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,027.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $946.18.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.