Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 30,274 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 219.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $36,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after purchasing an additional 292,017 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 11.1% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,630,127,000 after purchasing an additional 435,358 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,006,490,000 after purchasing an additional 58,681 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,812,920,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Argus raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $924.00 to $912.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Three investment 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.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $872.29.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $846.02 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $802.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $798.08. The stock has a market cap of $125.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $885.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,978 shares of company stock worth $54,692,570 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.