BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Bought by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,681 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc's holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 219.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $36,737,000 after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 worth $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $20,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,265 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $23,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This trade represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $3.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $1,024.67. 578,911 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 575,236. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The firm 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. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $975.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $875.55. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $718.72 and a 1 year high of $1,068.34.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,019.62.

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.