Scotia Capital Inc. Acquires 4,399 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,439 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,399 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $96,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,356,357,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $572,730,000. Amundi bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $528,792,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $343,976,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,053.00 to $1,046.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,210.00 to $950.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,099.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 430 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,656.40. This trade represents a 10.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 10.0 %

BLK opened at $897.11 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $947.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $988.95. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is an increase from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.