E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 353 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $947.96 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $994.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $985.00. The stock 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value 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. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last three months. Corporate 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.