Rakuten Securities Inc. Buys 104 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 42.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $15,307,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in BlackRock by 242.3% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,455,000 after buying an additional 15,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Citigroup decreased 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. TD Cowen lowered 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 report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,082.46.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $981.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $152.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $766.05 and a fifty-two 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $941.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $971.08.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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 paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

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.