O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $24.02 Million Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,436 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,830 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $24,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total value of $10,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $947.48 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $978.66 and its 200 day moving average is $992.24. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market cap of $147.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.