EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 257 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 52.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 746 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,097,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $900.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $139.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $985.45 and a 200-day moving average of $985.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

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.