International Assets Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 874 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in BlackRock by 208.3% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $787.60 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $775.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $791.81. The company has a market capitalization of $117.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.93 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

About BlackRock

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.