AXQ Capital LP Buys Shares of 1,166 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,166 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,195,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $518,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in BlackRock by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,904,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $950.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $147.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $980.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $987.70. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week 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.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.