BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Position Increased by Alley Investment Management Company LLC

Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,756 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises 2.8% of Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $22,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $965.18 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,002.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $983.33. The firm has a market cap of $149.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock 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 transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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, January 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price 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 research 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.