First Financial Corp IN Buys New Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 258 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,432,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,210 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,284,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,307,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLK. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced 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. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,082.46.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $6.75 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $988.88. 491,676 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 688,771. 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 capitalization of $153.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $922.81 and a 200 day moving average of $974.15. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $752.30 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during 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 firm's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

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.