Prana Capital Management LP Grows Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Prana Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,275 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 22,468 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 5.8% of Prana Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Prana Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.08% of BlackRock worth $122,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,356,357,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $572,730,000. Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $528,792,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $343,976,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,261,628.34. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $6.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $989.39. 676,753 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 692,235. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $916.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $978.06. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $752.30 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The stock has a market cap of $153.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

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.