Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 125 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,987 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.1 %

BLK opened at $957.84 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $982.52 and its 200 day moving average is $987.43. The stock has a market cap of $148.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business 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 firm earned $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.