Missouri Trust & Investment Co Invests $245,000 in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 259 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dover Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 10.0% in the first quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 384 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 12,967 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,273,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,049 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $33,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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 report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,096.31.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE BLK traded up $10.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $979.26. The stock had a trading volume of 400,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 689,059. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $942.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $971.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.34 and a quick ratio of 4.34. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $151.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.81 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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.