BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Stake Increased by New England Research & Management Inc.

New England Research & Management Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 619.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,058 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up 1.3% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 200 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $439,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE BLK opened at $787.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $779.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $792.66. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $845.00. The stock has a market cap of $117.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 51.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 target price (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.42.

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.