BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Bought by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 20,276 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,693 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $20,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $518,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,904,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $914.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $992.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $986.21. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. 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 company posted $9.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.