BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Acquired by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,355 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,976 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $63,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Level Four Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,956,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 143,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $147,551,000 after buying an additional 7,627 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 85,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,408,000 after acquiring an additional 6,216 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $2,356,357,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $53,945,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the 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 Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $968.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $150.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $979.80 and a 200-day moving average of $990.21.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.