Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 211 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $989.39 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $916.06 and a 200-day moving average of $978.04. 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 $752.30 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

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.