AXQ Capital LP Acquires New Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,166 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,195,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Amundi acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $322,097,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK traded down $4.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $968.79. 667,553 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 629,900. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $980.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $990.36.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a positive change from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,117,330. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.