Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Purchases 23 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 400 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 23 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% during 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 buying an additional 614 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 2.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,010,000 after buying an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 20.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,169,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $985.59 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1,031.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $937.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’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 transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,070.08.

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.