Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC Acquires 208 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of BLK opened at $947.96 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $146.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $994.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $985.86. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.20%. 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 currently 49.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.