Waverly Advisors LLC Has $5.35 Million Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 55.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,222 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered 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 research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $998.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $919.68 and a 200-day moving average of $978.24. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $752.30 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $154.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.63%.

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.