Denali Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 2,830 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,830 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,901,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $332,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,605,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old Port Advisors raised its holdings in BlackRock by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 428 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $958.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $148.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,007.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $980.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. Analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.