Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC Buys 120 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises approximately 1.9% of Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth $332,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% in the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,120,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,605,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Old Port Advisors grew its position in BlackRock by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 428 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, 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

NYSE BLK opened at $958.29 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $148.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,007.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $980.38.

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 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.