Providence First Trust Co Increases Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Providence First Trust Co increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for 1.0% of Providence First Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Providence First Trust Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Williamson Legacy Group LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC now owns 716 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp grew its stake in BlackRock by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 1,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,948,000. Tower Bridge Advisors lifted its stake in BlackRock by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waterway Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related 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 value of $37,851,121.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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. 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of BLK opened at $979.44 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,003.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $980.92. The firm has a market cap of $151.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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 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 company earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

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.