BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,276 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $20,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $914.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $992.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $986.21. The company has a market cap of $141.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.