Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Buys 14,477 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 387,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,477 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.26% of BlackRock worth $322,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 200 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $439,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $1.43 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $790.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 42,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 599,219. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $779.77 and a 200 day moving average of $792.86. The company has a market capitalization of $117.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $915.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.17.

About BlackRock

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.