1,731 Shares in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Purchased by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,731 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,774,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,311,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,496,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of BLK traded up $7.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $897.12. The stock had a trading volume of 171,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 938,670. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $139.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $939.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $987.88.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,077.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 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.