BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stake Boosted by Essex Savings Bank

Essex Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,916 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in BlackRock by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 397,641 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $313,063,000 after buying an additional 20,692 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 31.7% in the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 324 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at $383,000. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 19.1% during the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 530 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 4.9% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 8,023 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,317,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,100.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,012.62 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,082.45. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,029.20 and a 200-day moving average of $943.81.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

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.