Sheets Smith Wealth Management Acquires New Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,607 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,697,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 499 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $4,972,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 15,233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,616,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,011.87 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,026.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $949.91. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. 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 announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.02%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

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.