Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Acquires 25 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 25 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Amundi bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $528,792,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $343,976,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $330,662,000. Finally, National Pension Service purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,097,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $914.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $992.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $986.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.62%.

BlackRock Company 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.