Red Spruce Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Red Spruce Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for about 1.5% of Red Spruce Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Red Spruce Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.7 %

BLK stock opened at $1,011.87 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The company has a market cap of $156.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,026.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $949.91.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BLK. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.