BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Position Raised by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,794 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,378 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up about 1.0% of Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $66,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,773,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $572,730,000. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 549 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 89,233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $91,474,000 after buying an additional 26,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $2,481,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 7.4 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $822.38 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $968.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $992.26. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. 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 cap of $127.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current 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 paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,130.85.

BlackRock 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.