Mendota Financial Group LLC Takes $81,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 79 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $81,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup boosted 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 note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,083.92.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $954.19 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,030.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $942.57. The stock has a market cap of $147.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.91 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.