Shelton Capital Management Increases Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Shelton Capital Management raised its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 886 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,210.00 to $950.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,099.62.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $897.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $947.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $988.95. The company has a market capitalization of $139.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

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.