American Money Management LLC Purchases 241 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

American Money Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,551 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 241 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for about 1.5% of American Money Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. American Money Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. L & S Advisors Inc increased its stake in BlackRock by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 6,530 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the period. Allianz SE purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $11,043,000. Intrust Bank NA lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 1,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in BlackRock by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 30,745 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,517,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in BlackRock by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 62,355 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $63,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,976 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $947.48 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $978.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $991.44. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $147.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.