Bailard Inc. Grows Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Bailard Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $27,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,292 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,024,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 761 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,057,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 1,640 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.7 %

BLK stock opened at $979.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $151.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,003.74 and its 200 day moving average is $981.81.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.