State of Alaska Department of Revenue Acquires 457 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,057 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in BlackRock were worth $16,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in BlackRock by 65.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,480 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $248,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,282 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Finally, WBH Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. now owns 1,055 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,096.31.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of BLK traded down $4.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $974.60. The company had a trading volume of 855,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,581. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $948.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $969.93. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.81 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. 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.