BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,055 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 27,643 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $149,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth $518,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in BlackRock by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,038,000 after acquiring an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its position in BlackRock by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,532,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $875.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $135.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $932.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $985.86. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

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.