BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Strong Tower Advisory Services

Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,037,009,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,159.9% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 697,499 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $494,269,000 after purchasing an additional 696,830 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 22.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,105,314 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,361,064,000 after purchasing an additional 379,631 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 84.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 744,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $481,486,000 after purchasing an additional 340,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 15.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,326,618 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,777,933,000 after purchasing an additional 310,256 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at $13,910,292.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.73.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $832.59 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $805.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $742.68. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $124.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.84 by $0.82. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 30.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.93 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.81 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.88%.

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.