Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Invests $31.88 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 31,099 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $31,880,000. BlackRock accounts for approximately 1.4% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after buying an additional 42,757 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,663,330,000 after purchasing an additional 30,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,102,643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,130,330,000 after buying an additional 160,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $951.24 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,000.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $983.89. 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 has a market capitalization of $147.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. Citigroup upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,620 shares of company stock worth $115,571,370. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.