Independence Bank of Kentucky Buys New Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,397 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,269,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays upped their price target 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup dropped 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 research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,082.46.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $990.26 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $752.30 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $925.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $973.54. The company has a market capitalization of $153.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid 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 2.10%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

BlackRock 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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