Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd Buys 131 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd grew its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,040 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $383,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 421 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,941 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,827,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 4.7% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 28,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,103.33.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,004.23 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45. The firm has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,026.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $949.91.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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