Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Grows Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 143,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,627 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.09% of BlackRock worth $147,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $947.48 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $147.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $978.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $990.69.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.62%.

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.