Objective Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 368 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Objective Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 368 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,712,493,000 after buying an additional 68,405 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the 4th 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,072,787,000 after acquiring an additional 190,188 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in 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. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,356,357,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.2%

BLK stock traded up $1.63 on Friday, reaching $977.95. 1,060,907 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 690,922. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $922.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $974.57. The company has a market cap of $151.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $752.30 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $56,261,628.34. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BLK. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lowered their price target on 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,077.08.

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.