Centurion Wealth Management LLC Invests $699,000 in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Centurion Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 682 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $699,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.1 %

BLK opened at $928.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $983.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $986.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $144.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business 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. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.