BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Acquired by Hanson & Doremus Investment Management

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 113.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 365 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 20.4% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,053.50 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,024.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $958.99.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.