DAVENPORT & Co LLC Buys 65 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,751 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,014.90 on Tuesday. 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,026.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $963.86. The firm has a market cap of $157.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

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.