Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $31.52 Million Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,745 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $31,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $518,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,432,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,904,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,038,000 after buying an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of BLK stock traded up $2.91 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $949.39. 158,284 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 893,324. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $977.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $992.68. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Saturday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,120.67.

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.