Focus Financial Network Inc. Purchases New Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Focus Financial Network Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 612 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $627,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,663,330,000 after purchasing an additional 30,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $973.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,023.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.96.

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 the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective 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 target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.