Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $56.42 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,821 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $56,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 89,389.4% in 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 buying an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 104,468.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after acquiring an additional 791,874 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $330,662,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $987.08 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,014.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $975.94. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. 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 company has a market cap of $152.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 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 given a $5.21 dividend. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three 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, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.