Czech National Bank Purchases 1,872 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,438 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in BlackRock were worth $31,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,122,743,000 after buying an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $572,730,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $984.64. The company had a trading volume of 177,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 834,864. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market cap of $152.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $752.29 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $923.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $974.25.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given 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 2.12%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,082.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $56,261,628.34. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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.