National Pension Service Takes $322.10 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

National Pension Service acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 314,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $322,097,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.6 %

BlackRock stock opened at $958.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,007.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $980.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.