2,417 Shares in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Bought by Norway Savings Bank

Norway Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,417 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,288,000. BlackRock comprises approximately 1.3% of Norway Savings Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 669 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $4,397,000. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $1,588,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Argus increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,096.31.

Insider Transactions 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. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of BLK traded down $4.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $974.60. 855,808 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 691,581. The company has a market capitalization of $150.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company's fifty day moving average price is $948.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $969.93. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.81 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.