ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,185 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,423 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $31,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $2,356,357,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $572,730,000. Amundi purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $528,792,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $343,976,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $989.39 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $752.30 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $153.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $916.06 and a 200 day moving average of $978.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

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 dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.