First American Trust FSB Increases Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First American Trust FSB lifted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,469 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 298 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up about 1.2% of First American Trust FSB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $518,000. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in BlackRock by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $32,904,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in BlackRock by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.3 %

BLK stock opened at $964.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, 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 current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $980.97 and its 200 day moving average is $989.75.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. 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 firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.