BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Bought by Diversified Enterprises LLC

Diversified Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 345 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Diversified Enterprises LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $285,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $334,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.4% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,610,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in BlackRock by 5.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 35,278 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $928.74 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $983.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $986.30. The company has a market capitalization of $144.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.