PDS Planning Inc Increases Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

PDS Planning Inc lifted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 803 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $334,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,419,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA lifted its stake in BlackRock by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price 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 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.1 %

BLK stock opened at $957.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $148.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $982.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $987.43. 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 data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.