Michael S. Ryan Inc. Raises Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Michael S. Ryan Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 504 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for 0.4% of Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,070.08.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE BLK traded up $4.83 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $985.59. 777,209 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 687,495. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The firm has a market cap of $152.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,031.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $937.51.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

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.