Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 259 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Amundi acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $322,097,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $957.17 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $982.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $987.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $148.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued 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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Corporate 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.