BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Acquired by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4,027.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,041 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,507 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $22,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $96,000. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,010,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 704 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 548 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $1,119,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on 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 0.9 %

BlackRock stock opened at $959.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $996.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $983.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. 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 currently 49.62%.

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.