344 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Purchased by Cynosure Group LLC

Cynosure Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 344 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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BlackRock Trading Down 7.4 %

BLK traded down $65.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $822.38. 1,613,881 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 672,211. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. 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 50-day moving average of $968.78 and a 200 day moving average of $992.26.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,130.85.

BlackRock 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.