Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Buys Shares of 378 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $991.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,024.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $968.12. The company has a market cap of $153.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other 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 value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.