Iowa State Bank Takes $3.54 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Iowa State Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,743 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $3,543,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 438 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,969 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,069,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 513 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $506,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $984.79. 191,018 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 686,903. The business's 50-day moving average price is $923.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $974.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $752.30 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.81 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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 given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,082.46.

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.