Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Grows Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 268.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 553 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 403 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $954.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $980.87 and its 200-day moving average is $987.36.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock 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.