Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Invests $34.70 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 33,850 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $34,700,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,663,330,000 after purchasing an additional 30,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,081,561,000 after buying an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $993,312,000 after buying an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on 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 owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BLK traded down $7.31 on Tuesday, hitting $978.24. The stock had a trading volume of 262,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 791,662. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1,024.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $971.03. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $151.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

BlackRock Company 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.