Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 70.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $480,000. United Bank increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in BlackRock by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 474 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $235,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE BLK opened at $914.87 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $992.35 and its 200 day moving average is $986.21.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company 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 posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.