Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 795 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,603 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 1,121 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,310 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,789,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 3,923 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,725,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 1,548 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 14,622 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,883,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.0 %

BLK stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $968.46. 479,116 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 628,811. The firm's 50-day moving average is $980.33 and its 200-day moving average is $990.36. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $150.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

BlackRock Company 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.