West Coast Financial LLC Buys New Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

West Coast Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 297 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Flywheel Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $492,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 292 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $2,136,000. Finally, Essex Savings Bank lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 1,916 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,964,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.2 %

BlackRock stock opened at $1,015.01 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,082.45. The company has a market cap of $157.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,029.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $943.81.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,100.50.

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.