Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Purchases New Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,482 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $19,971,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd 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. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $334,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,419,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over 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 insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.1 %

NYSE BLK opened at $957.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $982.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $987.43. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $148.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

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 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm 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 boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.