293 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Purchased by First City Capital Management Inc.

First City Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 293 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $993,312,000 after buying an additional 1,044,962 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after acquiring an additional 791,874 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $115,377,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 48.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 337,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $320,148,000 after acquiring an additional 109,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $1.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,018.78. 222,818 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 409,062. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,030.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $930.79. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,063.00.

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.