Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Purchases New Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 335 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $973.22 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,020.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $972.03. 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 firm has a market cap of $150.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

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 previous year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on 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. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Sunday, February 9th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.