Allianz SE Takes Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Allianz SE purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 10,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $11,043,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,432,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,793,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,904,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,038,000 after buying an additional 4,210 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,155.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % 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. Insiders have sold a total of 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $21,234,629 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of BLK opened at $947.48 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $745.55 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.28. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $978.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $990.69.

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

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid 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 of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.