Advisors Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,862 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 870 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 35.8% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in BlackRock by 219.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $36,737,000 after buying an additional 30,274 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 20.4% during 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. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,804,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 20.8% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,333 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $20,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,675 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $3.44 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $1,024.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 593,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,236. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $975.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $875.55. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $718.72 and a 1-year high of $1,068.34. The company has a market cap of $158.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Barclays lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,019.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.