Financial Partners Group Inc Purchases New Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Financial Partners Group Inc purchased a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 260 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in 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 period. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,075.83 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,026.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $963.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.