Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys 1,395 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,473 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLK. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.3 %

BLK stock opened at $964.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $149.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50 day moving average of $980.97 and a 200 day moving average of $989.75.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share 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 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 business earned $9.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

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.