BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) is New England Research & Management Inc.'s 10th Largest Position

New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,747 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 2.0% of New England Research & Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. New England Research & Management Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in 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. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $19.53 on Thursday, reaching $1,072.14. 286,778 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 776,887. 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 $166.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,024.87 and a 200 day moving average of $959.65. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock's revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,190 shares of company stock valued at $104,436,741 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.