BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. 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 raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,904,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. 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. 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $959.02 on Friday. 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 $148.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $996.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $983.60. 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 2.17%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

About BlackRock

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.