Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. Makes New $279,000 Investment in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 295 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in BlackRock by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,038,000 after buying an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,284,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,307,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $984.64. The stock had a trading volume of 176,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 686,848. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $752.30 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $923.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $974.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. 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 analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.81 EPS. BlackRock's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 is 50.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BLK. Barclays increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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 report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,082.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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.