705 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Purchased by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 705 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $723,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $2,356,357,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $572,730,000. Amundi purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $528,792,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $343,976,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.2 %

BLK stock opened at $875.86 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $930.31 and its 200 day moving average is $985.65. The stock has a market cap of $135.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. 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 1-year low of $748.02 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.63%.

BlackRock 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.