Waverly Advisors LLC Grows Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 55.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,222 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 1,870 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock traded down $5.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $964.56. 517,434 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 693,933. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $920.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $976.93. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $752.30 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is 50.63%.

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.