Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Buys 1,409 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 46.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,434 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 3.7% in the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.5% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,020.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $158.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,024.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $952.31. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 48.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.