MTM Investment Management LLC Takes $806,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 786 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $806,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BLK. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,069,000. Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,983 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,184,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,117,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,579 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,146,000 after acquiring an additional 5,760 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,029,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on 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. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE BLK opened at $973.54 on Thursday. The company 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 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,023.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $971.96. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. 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. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.57%.

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.