10,686 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Bought by Level Four Advisory Services LLC

Level Four Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,686 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $10,956,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $968.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $979.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $990.21. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock 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.