Allianz SE Invests $11.04 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,748 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $11,043,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total transaction of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $0.75 during trading on Monday, reaching $947.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 994,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 896,557. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $147.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $978.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $992.24.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Saturday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,120.67.

About BlackRock

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.