BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Bought by Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,517 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $954.11 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $980.87 and a 200-day moving average of $987.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.