Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. Makes New Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 230 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $947.96 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $146.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $994.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $985.86.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.