Sheets Smith Wealth Management Buys New Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,607 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $3,697,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $6.51 on Wednesday, reaching $1,005.58. The company had a trading volume of 327,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 791,891. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $1,025.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $951.47. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The firm has a market cap of $155.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 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 announced its earnings results 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 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. BlackRock's payout ratio is 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.