Baxter Bros Inc. Boosts Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Baxter Bros Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,123 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $322,097,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $964.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $149.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $980.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $989.75. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised 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. Morgan Stanley upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In 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 corporate insiders.

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.