Zullo Investment Group Inc. Purchases New Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Zullo Investment Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 370 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $65,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 20.4% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,169,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $14.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $974.97. 1,253,611 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 821,976. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,013.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $976.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group increased 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. Citigroup increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.