Emerald Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Emerald Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises 0.2% of Emerald Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Evercore ISI raised their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $987.08 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,014.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $975.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

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.