OLD National Bancorp IN Raises Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,883 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $18,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter worth $465,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in BlackRock by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 46,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,245,000 after buying an additional 1,970 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 23.1% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 474 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,432,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% during the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,988,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,053.50 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,024.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $958.99. The stock has a market cap of $163.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results 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 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.43 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,190 shares of company stock worth $104,436,741 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.