Clarius Group LLC Makes New Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Clarius Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 782 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $802,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $993,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after purchasing an additional 791,874 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $330,662,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $115,377,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,103.33.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE BLK traded up $8.51 on Friday, reaching $1,004.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,079,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 610,586. The company has a market capitalization of $155.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,027.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $947.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.35%.

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.