Lmcg Investments LLC Makes New $692,000 Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Lmcg Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 675 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after acquiring an additional 30,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after acquiring an additional 40,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after purchasing an additional 46,728 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.7 %

BLK stock opened at $1,011.87 on Wednesday. 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 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,026.34 and a 200 day moving average of $949.91.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm 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 earned $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 48.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.