Reliant Investment Management LLC Invests $4.61 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Reliant Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,497 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,610,000. BlackRock makes up approximately 2.0% of Reliant Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter worth $31,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,103.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,004.23 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,027.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $948.40. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

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.