BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 53,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $45,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 200 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 764 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $439,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $924.00 to $912.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $872.29.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock traded up $19.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $856.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 555,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 593,194. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $795.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $795.65. The company has a quick ratio of 5.32, a current ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $127.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $857.65.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 32.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.28 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,978 shares of company stock valued at $54,692,570 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.