Donaldson Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,805 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 551 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up approximately 2.0% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $53,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $480,000. United Bank grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 494 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its holdings in BlackRock by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 474 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $235,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $914.87 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $992.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $986.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, 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 the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.