Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $14.14 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 52.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,798 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 4,769 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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BlackRock Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $4.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $968.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 667,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,900. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $981.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $990.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.