Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Invests $1.19 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,190,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $974.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $981.21 and a 200 day moving average of $990.51. 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 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock 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.