BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Holdings Boosted by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 242.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,505 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $22,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in BlackRock by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,311,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 0.3% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 0.4% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,829,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.00, for a total transaction of $10,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,117,330. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock worth $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on BLK. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,017.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.3 %

BlackRock stock opened at $976.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $151.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. 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 fifty-two week low of $745.55 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,016.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $975.86.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

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.