Yousif Capital Management LLC Increases Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,723 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $18,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,712,493,000 after buying an additional 68,405 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after buying an additional 93,844 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,072,787,000 after buying an additional 190,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,450,475,000 after buying an additional 26,485 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,082.46.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $56,261,628.34. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.0%

BLK opened at $988.81 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $752.30 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $153.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.54, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $925.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $972.43.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.63%.

BlackRock Company 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.