AMF Tjanstepension AB Invests $29.73 Million in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 28,976 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $29,726,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $949.37, for a total value of $408,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. The trade was a 10.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on BLK shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,220.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $947.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $146.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $745.55 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $994.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $984.14.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.