Carmel Capital Partners LLC Buys 34 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 623 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 34 shares during the quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $967.48 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $998.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $983.77. The company has a market cap of $149.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,620 shares of company stock valued at $59,085,750 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock 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.