Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 4,378 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,378 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,488,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $985.24 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,024.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $969.98. The company has a market capitalization of $152.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 2.12%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup increased 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock 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.