Tower Bridge Advisors Purchases 64 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Tower Bridge Advisors lifted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 946 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $979.44 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,003.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $980.92. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $151.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

BlackRock 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.