Sunpointe LLC Purchases Shares of 198 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sunpointe LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 198 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 13,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in BlackRock by 242.3% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,455,000 after buying an additional 15,505 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,971,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1,003.7% in the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,467,000 after buying an additional 2,188 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price 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 upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $990.47 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,013.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $976.04. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $153.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.28. 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 announced 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 return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business 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 company posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.