Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Buys Shares of 3,678 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,678 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,481,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 39.8% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 762 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in BlackRock by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 1,331 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at about $29,938,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 2.5% during the first quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 4,434 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,197,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 393.8% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 79 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays raised their price target on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $975.76 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $752.30 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $151.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $922.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $975.86.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors 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 2.14%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

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.