BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.

O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 34.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 848 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth about $383,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 16,108 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth $2,113,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.1% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,004.23 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,028.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $944.64. The firm has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

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.