Optimize Financial Inc Takes $393,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 383 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,496,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.4 %

BLK stock opened at $879.39 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $942.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $987.97. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $136.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Sunday, April 6th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,096.92.

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.