BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Position Increased by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 143,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,627 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $147,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $947.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $978.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $990.69. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.