Harfst & Associates Inc. Has $2.96 Million Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Harfst & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,885 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 0.6% of Harfst & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $953.38 on Thursday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,006.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $980.19. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $147.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.