Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Trims Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lessened its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,511 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 35 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in BlackRock by 208.3% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock traded down $2.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $781.90. 429,047 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 526,893. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $789.96 and its 200-day moving average is $783.36. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00. The stock has a market cap of $116.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 5.32, a current ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total value of $25,089,701.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at $335,425,128.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,956 shares of company stock valued at $57,252,931 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.