National Pension Service Invests $322.10 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

National Pension Service acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 314,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $322,097,000. National Pension Service owned 0.20% of BlackRock at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $958.29 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,007.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $980.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.