Clare Market Investments LLC Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,395 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,321,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,712,493,000 after buying an additional 68,405 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,072,787,000 after purchasing an additional 190,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,450,475,000 after purchasing an additional 26,485 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,082.46.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $4.80 during trading on Friday, hitting $990.26. The stock had a trading volume of 623,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 688,374. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $752.30 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The business's 50-day moving average is $924.37 and its 200 day moving average is $973.80. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $153.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio 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.