Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 33.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,816 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,963 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $518,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth about $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 68,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,010,000 after buying an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,169,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $962.75 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,082.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $1,029.20 and its 200 day moving average is $943.81.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,245.00 to $1,261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,088.67.

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.