Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,994 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 7,742 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned 0.06% of BlackRock worth $94,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $65,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 20.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded down $1.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $1,014.43. 710,032 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 831,137. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $1,025.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $966.48. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $157.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. This is a positive change from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Saturday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.