Hancock Whitney Corp Grows Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 467 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,081,561,000 after purchasing an additional 40,865 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,310,762,000 after acquiring an additional 46,728 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,197,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $942,640,000 after acquiring an additional 22,311 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,526,120,000 after purchasing an additional 791,874 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,019.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This trade represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,019.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $991.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $885.16. The company has a market cap of $157.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $725.86 and a one year high of $1,068.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

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.