Activest Wealth Management Purchases 61 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 87.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Activest Wealth Management’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.5 %

BLK opened at $991.95 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,024.93 and a 200 day moving average of $968.98. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $153.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 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 (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last three months. 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.