Smith Salley Wealth Management Acquires New Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Smith Salley Wealth Management bought a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,606 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,671,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.3% during the third quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 3.5% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $8.51 on Friday, hitting $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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $1,027.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $947.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,082.45.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,103.33.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.