Tenere Capital LLC Grows Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Tenere Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 50.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,600 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises 6.2% of Tenere Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Tenere Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $23,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $887.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $137.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $926.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $984.56. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $748.02 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.81 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.