JGP Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,834 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises about 1.7% of JGP Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $115,000. United Bank boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 17.1% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 1,287 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.6% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 35.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in BlackRock by 11.7% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,452 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. 77.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $2.27 during trading on Monday, hitting $800.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 627,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 613,892. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $845.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $801.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $736.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 3.48. The company has a market capitalization of $119.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.84 by $0.82. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 30.81%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.73 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th will be given a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 55.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLK. UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded BlackRock from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $885.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BlackRock from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $708.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.73.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at $3,366,142.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 3,418 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.11, for a total value of $2,669,833.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,972,959.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,366,142.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.