Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,473 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,097,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $964.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $149.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $980.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $989.75.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. 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 yield of 2.16%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.