Albion Financial Group UT Boosts Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,570 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $10,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after acquiring an additional 292,017 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in BlackRock by 11.1% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,630,127,000 after acquiring an additional 435,358 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,015,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,636,052,000 after acquiring an additional 47,128 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after acquiring an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in BlackRock by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,197,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $942,640,000 after acquiring an additional 22,311 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $972.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $955.57 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $142.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $963.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $896.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $830.08.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.30 by $1.16. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

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.