New England Research & Management Inc. Has $2.55 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 619.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,058 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for 1.3% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norway Savings Bank grew its stake in BlackRock by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 1,696 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,414,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,590,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its stake in BlackRock by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,414,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price target (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. 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. 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. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $787.32 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $779.33 and a 200-day moving average of $792.66. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $845.00. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $117.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.34.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

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.