Renasant Bank Increases Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Renasant Bank boosted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 288 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the quarter. Renasant Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $900.50 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $985.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $985.29. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.