BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Acquired by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,232 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 162 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their target price 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. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $947.45 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $977.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $992.68. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $147.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.