BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 268.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 553 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in BlackRock were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. United Bank lifted its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $334,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $216,000. Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 629 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,260 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,096,000 after buying an additional 994 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock 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 sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded up $11.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $974.69. 566,671 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 628,101. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $980.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $989.75. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market cap of $151.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The business's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.