Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,827 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in BlackRock by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,496,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total value of $1,704,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of BLK opened at $982.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $914.52 and a 200 day moving average of $978.04. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $752.30 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BLK. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

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.