Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Boosts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 534 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $947.48 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $978.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $992.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly 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. The business 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 revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.