Avestar Capital LLC Boosts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 876 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,026.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $989.43 and a 200 day moving average of $884.21. 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 company has a market capitalization of $158.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $724.54 and a 52 week high of $1,068.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. 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 business posted $10.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,019.62.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.