Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,933 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up approximately 2.1% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 219.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,737,000 after buying an additional 30,274 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 62.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,804,000 after buying an additional 884 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,333 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $20,256,000 after buying an additional 3,675 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The trade was a 64.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,031.49 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $724.54 and a twelve month high of $1,068.34. The company has a market capitalization of $159.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $987.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $882.60. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.91 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI upped 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. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,019.62.

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.