Umpqua Bank Has $3.44 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,568 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises 1.2% of Umpqua Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Umpqua Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 0.4% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $950.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $980.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $987.70.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

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.