Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. Has $359,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $26,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays cut their target price 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 increased 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,011.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,025.85 and a 200-day moving average of $951.47. The company has a market cap of $156.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.