Financial Management Professionals Inc. Purchases 45 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 438 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $383,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 5.0% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 10,459 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,235,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in BlackRock by 1.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 131,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $103,355,000 after buying an additional 2,453 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,004.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,027.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $946.18. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped 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 note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,103.33.

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.