Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Increases Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 68.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 590 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $979.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,003.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $981.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. Analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.