Simon Quick Advisors LLC Has $361,000 Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 30.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 352 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 83 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLK. Citigroup lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,016.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $157.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,025.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $951.85. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

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.