CWA Asset Management Group LLC Has $547,000 Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 533 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Pensionfund Sabic bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $2,460,000. First City Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,427,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 545 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $985.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $152.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. 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 50 day simple moving average of $1,031.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $937.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.91 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,070.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was 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 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.