Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Acquires 259 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,758 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 259 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $16,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $32,904,000. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of BLK opened at $944.49 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $146.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,004.72 and a 200 day moving average of $979.94. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.