PFG Investments LLC Purchases 90 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

PFG Investments LLC raised its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 482 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 671.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 54 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Selway Asset Management bought a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total transaction of $765,272.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,574,225.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total value of $765,272.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $3,574,225.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028 over the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $832.59 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $805.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $742.68. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.84 by $0.82. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.81% and a return on equity of 14.74%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.81 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. BNP Paribas raised shares of BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.73.

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.