BHK Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

BHK Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 791 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the quarter. BHK Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value 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 $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $951.45 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,009.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $979.66. The company has a market cap of $147.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict 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 issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. 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. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.