Probity Advisors Inc. Buys 43 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Probity Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 756 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Probity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 468 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 1,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 384 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 16,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $16,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $964.56 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $752.30 and a 52-week 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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $921.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $976.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. Barclays upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

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.