Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,038 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 7,821 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in BlackRock were worth $56,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $993,312,000 after buying an additional 1,044,962 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,526,120,000 after buying an additional 791,874 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $330,662,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,244,608,000 after buying an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total value of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $14.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $974.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,253,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,976. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,013.24 and a 200 day moving average of $976.04. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $745.55 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is a boost from BlackRock's previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. Citigroup boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,120.67.

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.