Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 37.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 340 shares during the quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction 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 this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,020.19 on Monday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $158.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,024.23 and a 200-day moving average of $954.96.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

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.