1,170 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Purchased by Banco BTG Pactual S.A.

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,190,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $322,097,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $974.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $151.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $981.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $990.51. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.