Swedbank AB Has $95.31 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Swedbank AB increased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,580 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.06% of BlackRock worth $95,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 866.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,083.05, for a total transaction of $2,166,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,127,439. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 45,249 shares of company stock worth $47,671,714 in the last quarter. 1.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,073.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $166.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $917.39 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,018.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,054.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.64 EPS. Research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 52.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded BlackRock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,220.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,269.06.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.