Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Acquires 102 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,051 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $973.22 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,020.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $972.03. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLK. UBS Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Sunday, February 9th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,120.67.

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.