Synergy Investment Management LLC Takes $40,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,620 shares of company stock valued at $59,085,750 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $967.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $998.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $983.77. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Company 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.