Waterloo Capital L.P. Grows Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,610 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 7.4 %

BLK stock opened at $822.38 on Monday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. 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 cap of $127.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $968.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $992.74.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,130.85.

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.