UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Buys 21,036 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 301.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,036 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $28,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,275,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in BlackRock by 90.1% during the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 614 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in BlackRock by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 240,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $245,690,000 after purchasing an additional 25,696 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $457,000. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $1,190,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $968.79 on Thursday. 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 $150.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $980.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $990.36. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.