670 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Bought by PCG Asset Management LLC

PCG Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 670 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $979.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $151.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1,003.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $981.81. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target 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. Barclays dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.