BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Acquired by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 545 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 907 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 1,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 65,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $51,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,017.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $157.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,030.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $930.79. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Citigroup raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.00.

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.