IAG Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 25 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $518,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,432,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,904,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $900.50 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $139.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $985.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $985.29. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

BlackRock Company 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.