HM Payson & Co. Purchases 24 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $518,000. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in BlackRock by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,904,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.2 %

BLK opened at $947.96 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $146.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $994.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $985.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.