Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Invests $3.69 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,690,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $219,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $7,433,000. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $337,000. Finally, Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $493,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, May 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,077.08.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $998.24 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $752.30 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $919.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $978.24. The firm has a market cap of $154.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 12,430 shares of company stock valued at $11,237,249 in the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by 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.