Venturi Wealth Management LLC Acquires 282 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,806 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,468.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,526,120,000 after buying an additional 791,874 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $330,662,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.5 %

BlackRock stock traded down $14.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $974.97. The stock had a trading volume of 1,253,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,976. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1,011.61 and a 200 day moving average of $977.04. The firm has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.