Harbor Advisors LLC Makes New $4.02 Million Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 3,924 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,023,000. BlackRock makes up approximately 0.6% of Harbor Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $51,312,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $1,195,000. Umpqua Bank lifted its position in BlackRock by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,568 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,437,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Plancorp LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $253,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 52.8% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 13,798 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,144,000 after buying an additional 4,769 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of BLK opened at $950.43 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $147.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $980.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $988.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.