Van ECK Associates Corp Has $39.35 Million Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,579 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $39,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 817 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in BlackRock by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 1,794 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,092,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,444 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 460 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% during the second quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 752 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $951.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $147.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,081.96 and its 200-day moving average is $1,095.55.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 22.93%.The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $11.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 64.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total transaction of $31,675,823.58. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $12,363,724.98. This represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total transaction of $22,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,630,750. The trade was a 24.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. Freedom Capital raised BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of BlackRock from a “moderate buy” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Evercore reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,235.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,308.89.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.