Harbor Advisors LLC Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,924 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $4,023,000. BlackRock accounts for about 0.6% of Harbor Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,663,330,000 after acquiring an additional 30,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,102,643 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,130,330,000 after purchasing an additional 160,323 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:BLK traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $968.46. 479,116 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 629,460. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $980.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $990.36. The company has a market cap of $150.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. This is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

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.