Certified Advisory Corp Acquires Shares of 206 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Certified Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 206 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen upped their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays decreased 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,004.23 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,028.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $944.64. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

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.