By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK – Free Report) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 515 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,663,330,000 after buying an additional 30,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after buying an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after buying an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,310,762,000 after acquiring an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
BlackRock Stock Up 5.1 %
BLK stock opened at $1,012.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $156.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.92 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,029.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $943.81.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.
BlackRock Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.35%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,088.67.
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.
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