Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Takes $195,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 190 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $195,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 39,539 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,532,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,284,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $989.39 on Monday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $752.30 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $916.06 and its 200-day moving average is $978.04. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $153.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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 paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.