J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 30.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,282 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business'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 value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of BLK traded down $14.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $974.97. 1,253,611 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 821,976. The company has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,011.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $977.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

About BlackRock

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.