Rathbones Group PLC Buys 13,685 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 38.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 49,455 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,685 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $50,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $822.38 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $968.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $992.74. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $127.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released 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. The company 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%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,130.85.

BlackRock 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.