L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Buys Shares of 38,626 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 38,626 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $39,596,000. BlackRock accounts for approximately 4.6% of L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 3,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,288,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC now owns 426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. New Republic Capital LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $681,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $988.02 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,024.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $971.03. The company has a market capitalization of $153.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.