Hartline Investment Corp Buys Shares of 8,711 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Hartline Investment Corp purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 8,711 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $8,930,000. BlackRock makes up about 1.0% of Hartline Investment Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,251,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK traded up $2.47 on Tuesday, hitting $988.02. 884,012 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 817,217. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,024.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $971.03. The stock has a market cap of $153.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (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 was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. This is a positive change from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's payout ratio is 48.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a report on Sunday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.