Weil Company Inc. Acquires 68 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Weil Company Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 704 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Weil Company Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $2,901,000. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,935,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,662 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,729,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,930,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in BlackRock by 197.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,708,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $958.29 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,007.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $980.38. 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted 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 note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average 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.