CoreFirst Bank & Trust Buys New Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 48 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $49,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. United Bank lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 27.1% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 549 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in BlackRock by 1,150.0% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $105,000. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 467 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday, March 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $974.69 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $981.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $990.51. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $151.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. 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 2.14%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related 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 value 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. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.