Webster Bank N. A. Invests $11.47 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $11,473,000. BlackRock comprises 1.3% of Webster Bank N. A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total value of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $975.76 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $752.30 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $922.27 and a 200 day moving average of $975.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. 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 earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

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.