Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 903 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $65,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $980.48 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,021.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $971.97. The company has a market cap of $151.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly 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 firm 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%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group boosted 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Sunday, February 9th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last 90 days. Company 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.