Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 449 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 449 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,051.91 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,023.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $957.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,082.45. 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 company has a market capitalization of $162.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen raised their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.