BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Bought by United Bank

United Bank boosted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the quarter. United Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $615,000. American Money Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. American Money Management LLC now owns 7,551 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,741,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 6,530 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,043,000. Finally, Intrust Bank NA boosted its stake in BlackRock by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 1,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $947.48 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $978.66 and its 200-day moving average is $991.44. 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 company has a market cap of $147.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target 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 cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.