Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Raises Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 113.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 365 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Ibex Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,999,000. Field & Main Bank boosted its position in BlackRock by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 1,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 438 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $40,799,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $343,976,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,053.50 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $163.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,024.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $958.99.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

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.