Nwam LLC Purchases New Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Nwam LLC bought a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 521 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $534,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 7.3% in the third quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,292 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,024,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.2% in the third quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,525,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.1% in the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 761 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,057,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.7 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $979.44 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,003.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $980.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.