BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Bought by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,506 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $19,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $330,662,000. National Pension Service purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,097,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $953.38 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,006.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $980.19. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $147.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 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 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays decreased 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 research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.