BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stock Holdings Lifted by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 324,542 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $332,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 105,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $115,587,000 after purchasing an additional 6,268 shares during the last quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 202.3% during the fourth quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 2,128 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,934 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,159,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $662,000. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4,027.5% during the 4th quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,041 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,594,000 after acquiring an additional 21,507 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $947.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $994.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $984.14. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.