Montecito Bank & Trust Makes New $1.53 Million Investment in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Montecito Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,621 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,534,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,712,493,000 after acquiring an additional 68,405 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,200,450,000 after buying an additional 93,844 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,072,787,000 after acquiring an additional 190,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,450,475,000 after acquiring an additional 26,485 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. 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. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,096.31.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $8.70 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $977.88. 662,589 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 690,856. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $151.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The stock's 50-day moving average is $944.22 and its 200-day moving average is $971.11.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

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.