Blair William & Co. IL Acquires New Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Blair William & Co. IL bought a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 52,623 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $53,945,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $322,097,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $968.46 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $150.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $979.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $990.21. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup increased 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Company 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.