BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Position Boosted by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,485 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,450,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Down 7.4 %

BlackRock stock opened at $822.38 on Friday. 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. The firm has a market cap of $127.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $968.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $992.26.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,130.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.