WBH Advisory Inc. Raises Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

WBH Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,055 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. WBH Advisory Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $973.22 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $150.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,019.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $974.18. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.