Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Boosts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 34.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,844 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 200 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $439,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold 66,978 shares of company stock worth $54,692,570 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $924.00 to $912.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $872.29.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK traded down $3.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $839.74. 41,355 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 602,379. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $851.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $793.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $794.28. The company has a market capitalization of $124.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.22 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.