Ames National Corp Acquires Shares of 741 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ames National Corp purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 741 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $760,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in BlackRock by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,038,000 after acquiring an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,284,000. Finally, Blue Square Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,243,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,656.40. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,430 shares of company stock worth $11,237,249. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $998.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $154.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $919.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $978.24. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $752.30 and a one year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,065.00 to $1,035.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,077.08.

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.