Verity & Verity LLC Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Verity & Verity LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,116 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $791,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,492,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,424,424,000 after purchasing an additional 444,552 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.8% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,696,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,335,747,000 after acquiring an additional 174,789 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,319,438 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,477,460,000 after acquiring an additional 259,896 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 15.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,326,618 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,777,933,000 after acquiring an additional 310,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,945,360 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,184,803,000 after acquiring an additional 30,163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $636.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $95.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $714.75 and its 200-day moving average is $680.87. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $503.12 and a 52-week high of $788.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a current ratio of 2.99.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 13th. The asset manager reported $8.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.99 by $0.94. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.38% and a net margin of 28.97%. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 34.84 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 7th will be given a $5.00 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.88. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 6th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $742.31, for a total value of $742,310.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 74,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,158,829.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $742.31, for a total value of $742,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 74,307 shares in the company, valued at $55,158,829.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $728.66, for a total transaction of $473,629.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,226,056.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,839 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,947. 1.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $540.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $821.00 to $813.00 in a research note on Sunday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $741.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $820.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $740.92.

About BlackRock

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BlackRock, Inc engages in providing investment management, risk management, and advisory services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. Its products include single and multi-asset class portfolios investing in equities, fixed income, alternatives, and money market instruments. The company was founded by Susan L.