BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stock Holdings Increased by Farrow Financial Inc.

Farrow Financial Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,679 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for 1.8% of Farrow Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Farrow Financial Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,097,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $947.96 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $994.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $985.00. The company has a market cap of $146.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 1.90 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 $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BLK. Barclays cut 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 report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.