Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Grows Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 118.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,097 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 4,393 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.8 %

BLK traded up $7.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $894.59. The company had a trading volume of 553,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 685,051. The company has a market capitalization of $138.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $924.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $983.94. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $748.02 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share 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. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's payout ratio is 50.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,077.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business'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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $12,838,649. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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.