Xponance Inc. Buys 794 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,198 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 794 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $21,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $957.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $982.52 and a 200-day moving average of $987.43. The company has a market cap of $148.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, 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, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. 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 (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.