Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 1,920 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 272,110 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.18% of BlackRock worth $278,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Three 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $2.92 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $976.84. 1,048,339 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 811,720. The business's 50-day moving average price is $1,017.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $974.94. The company has a market cap of $151.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business's 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 value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.