532 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Purchased by Novem Group

Novem Group acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 532 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $545,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,496,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3%

BLK opened at $969.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $752.30 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $150.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $920.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $978.04.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Company 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.

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