BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Acquired by Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC

Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC grew its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 248 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $322,097,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $950.43 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $980.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $987.70.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is 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.