ARS Investment Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 543 shares during the quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,004.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,027.33 and its 200 day moving average is $948.40. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,103.33.

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.