Old Port Advisors Raises Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Old Port Advisors grew its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 443 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 15 shares during the quarter. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 104,468.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after buying an additional 791,874 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after buying an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $115,377,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 337,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $320,148,000 after acquiring an additional 109,771 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $6.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $1,019.00. 91,878 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 594,570. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,029.36 and a 200-day moving average of $930.18. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.91 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,063.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. The trade was a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About BlackRock

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.