Avanza Fonder AB Takes $9.97 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $9,971,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth approximately $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,103.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,000.78 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,082.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The firm has a market cap of $155.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,028.86 and a 200 day moving average of $944.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

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.