World Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 48.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,405 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 11.1% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 36,353 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $37,679,000 after purchasing an additional 3,639 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 31.8% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $399,000. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, Invst LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.2% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,312,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $2.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,056.54. 537,361 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 587,539. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,015.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $905.81. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,082.45. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $163.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,039.17.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.83, for a total transaction of $18,824,940.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,023,421.24. This trade represents a 67.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,190 shares of company stock worth $113,161,681 over the last 90 days. 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.