Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 230 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.2 %

BlackRock stock opened at $947.96 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $146.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $994.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $985.86.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. 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 this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.