Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Acquires 27 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,099 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday, February 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $974.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,011.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $977.04. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock 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 transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.