Synergy Investment Management LLC Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,620 shares of company stock valued at $59,085,750 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of 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 shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $967.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $998.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $983.77. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $149.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.