ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 4,423 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 31,185 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 4,423 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $31,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,014 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $904,000. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $318,000. Fermata Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $211,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $4.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $998.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 536,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 692,129. The stock has a market cap of $154.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $917.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $978.10. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $752.30 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,077.08.

About BlackRock

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.