Davis R M Inc. Makes New $1.06 Million Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Davis R M Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,663,330,000 after acquiring an additional 30,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,102,643 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,130,330,000 after purchasing an additional 160,323 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

BLK stock opened at $912.43 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $990.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $986.42. The stock has a market cap of $141.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.