BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stake Boosted by New England Research & Management Inc.

New England Research & Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,747 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 2.0% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,053.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $163.17 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,024.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $958.99.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.