BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 240,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,696 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.16% of BlackRock worth $245,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, March 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $968.79 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $150.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $980.33 and a 200-day moving average of $990.36.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 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.