Curio Wealth LLC Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $957.84 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $982.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $987.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 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 issued a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.