Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Takes $343.98 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 343,739 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $343,976,000. BlackRock makes up 4.2% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,864 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,214,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Next Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 206,265 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $162,397,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth $465,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on 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 raised their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,051.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,024.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $958.99. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.94%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.